Systems and methods for transmitting media associated with a measure of quality based on level of game play in an interactive video gaming environment

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for incorporating online user generated media content (e.g., videos) into an interactive video gaming environment are provided. Media assets that are associated with different measures of quality generated by users are stored on a remote server. A player action is received by the remote server. A determination is made as to which one of the plurality of levels of the interactive video gaming environment corresponds to the action. One of the videos associated with one of the measures of quality is selected based on the determination of the level corresponding to the action. The selected video is transmitted to the player.

BACKGROUND

Traditional interactive video game systems encompass stand-alonesoftware applications with which the user can interact to progressthrough a particular storyline. These traditional interactive video gamesystems have a predefined program source code and storyline where theset of outcomes based on a given set of player actions in the game islimited by the program source code and updates or expansion packs to theprogram source code. Although entertaining, such traditional systemslose their entertainment value after a player is exposed to all thelevels or all the possible outcomes. In particular, because the outcomesbased on a given set of player actions in these traditional systemsbecome predictable, these systems lose their entertainment value overtime.

More sophisticated interactive video game systems provide a multiplayerenvironment where multiple users can play the game together within theconfines of the interactive video game system application. Theseadvanced systems provide a more diverse set of outcomes based on a givenset of player actions since the outcomes are affected by multipleplayers or users. However, even in these more sophisticated systems, theoutcomes become predictable over time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, systems and methods for incorporating online user generatedmedia content (e.g., videos) into an interactive video gamingenvironment are provided in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention.

In some embodiments, systems and methods for selecting for display to aplayer, based on an action of the player in an interactive video gamingenvironment, reward and penalty videos received from other online usersare provided. In particular, an action may be received from a player ata remote server. The action may be an audio, video, graphic, and/orimage created by the player. In some implementations, the action mayinclude receiving a video from the player as part of the game play,receiving from the player a response to an inquiry or question providedduring the game play, receiving an indication that the player completeda segment or stage of the interactive gaming environment, and receivingan indication that the player reached or failed to reach a segment ofone of the plurality of levels of the interactive gaming environment.The remote server may store the action and make the action available toa plurality of users for ranking. After the plurality of users rank theaction, the remote server may assign a rank to the action. In someimplementations, the remote server may determine whether the rankcorresponds to a reward or penalty.

In some implementations, the remote server may select a media asset thatis categorized as a reward or penalty based on whether the rankcorresponds to a reward or penalty. The reward or penalty media assetmay be a video, audio, image, and/or graphic created by another user ofthe interactive video game and categorized by the user as a reward orpenalty media asset. In particular, the remote server may select areward media asset when the rank corresponds to a reward. In someimplementations, the remote server may determine whether the selectedmedia asset has been previously provided or made available to theuser/player. When the media asset has previously been provided or madeavailable to the user/player, the remote server may select an alternateequivalent reward or penalty media asset that has not been madeavailable or provided to the user/player. The remote server may transmitor make available the selected reward or penalty media asset to theplayer who submitted the action.

In some embodiments, systems and methods for selecting for display to aplayer, based on an action of the player in an interactive video gamingenvironment, three-dimensional (3D) or stereoscopic reward and penaltyvideos received from other online users are provided. In particular, anyportion of the interactive video gaming environment may be presented tothe user in 3D. In some implementations, the actions generated by theplayer may be created and stored in 3D. In some implementations, thereward or penalty media assets generated by users of the interactivevideo gaming environment may be created and stored in 3D. In someimplementations, the user/player may interact with the 3D interactivevideo gaming environment using a stereoscopic optical device. The imagesof the interactive video gaming environment, when viewed through thestereoscopic optical device, may appear to the user/player in 3D space.In particular, one portion of the interactive video gaming environmentmay appear closer to the user/player than another.

In some embodiments, systems and methods for selecting for display to aplayer, based on an action of the player in an interactive video gamingenvironment and the level of game play, videos being associated with acertain measure of quality are provided. In particular, each of thereward or penalty media assets stored on the remote server may beassociated with a measure of quality. The measure of quality may includeimage resolution, type or particular author of the media asset, length,popularity the videos among a community, content quality of the videos,originality of the videos, and/or rarity of the videos. In someimplementations, the remote server may determine what level ofauthorization the user/player has (e.g., what level within theinteractive video gaming environment the user/player is in or what typeof package of the gaming environment the user/player is using). Theremote server may select a reward or penalty media asset based on thelevel of authorization the user/player has. In particular, the remoteserver may select a reward or penalty media asset having a high measureof quality when the user/player has one level of authorization (e.g.,the user is in or above level 6 out of 10 in the game). Similarly, theremote server may select a reward or penalty media asset having a lowmeasure of quality when the user/player has different lower level ofauthorization (e.g., the user is in or below level 5 out of 10 in thegame).

In some embodiments, systems and methods for selecting for display to aplayer, based on an action of the player in an interactive video gamingenvironment, videos that are part of a series of videos are provided. Inparticular, the reward or penalty media asset may be an episode of aseries of a media asset. In some implementations, when the action isassigned a high rank, the remote server may select a next episode (e.g.,a future episode, clip or segment) in the series for provision to theplayer. Similarly, when the action is assigned a low rank, the remoteserver may select a repeat or previous episode in the series forprovision to the player.

In some embodiments, systems and methods for selecting for display to aplayer, based on an action of the player in an interactive video gamingenvironment, videos with or without advertisements are provided. Inparticular, the remote server may determine whether or not to includeadvertisements with the reward or penalty media assets based on thelevel of authorization associated with the user/player. In someimplementations, the remote server may embed or associate anadvertisement with a reward or penalty media asset when the user/playerhas one level of authorization. Similarly, the remote server may preventor not include an advertisement with a reward or penalty media assetwhen the user/player has a different higher level of authorization. Thelevel of authorization may depend on a rank the player receives for agiven action, whether the player purchased a particular version of theinteractive video gaming environment, the level within the game theplayer is in, and/or whether the user ranks a predetermined number ofother player actions.

In some embodiments, systems and methods for selecting for display to aplayer, based on a duration of using exercise equipment, videos areprovided. In particular, the user equipment may monitor an exerciseattribute of the user (e.g., a length of time, a heart rate, a distance,etc.) for a given period. The user equipment may compare the monitoredattribute to a predetermined threshold corresponding to the attribute.Until the monitored attribute exceeds the predetermined threshold, theuser equipment may present one or more media assets associated with aparticular measure of quality. Once the predetermined threshold isexceeded by the monitored attribute, the user equipment may adjust thepredetermined threshold and present one or more media assets associatedwith a higher measure of quality than the previously presented mediaassets.

In some embodiments, systems and methods for limiting a number of videosa user stores in the interactive video gaming environment based on anumber of other player actions the user acts on or judges are provided.In particular, the remote server may prevent the player from submittingan action for ranking when the player lacks a sufficient authorizationlevel. The player may lack sufficient authorization level until theplayer ranks a predetermined number of other player actions. In someimplementations, after the player ranks a predetermined number of otherplayer actions, the player may be permitted to submit the action forranking to the remote server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for generating media based ona player action in an interactive video gaming environment in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a user equipment device that may beused to implement the interactive video gaming environment in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A-C illustrate exemplary user interfaces that may provide theinteractive video gaming environment on various platforms of a userequipment device in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4-6 are illustrative interactive video gaming environment displaysin accordance with embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 is illustrative exercise equipment running an interactive videogaming environment in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative 3D interactive video gaming environment inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 9-12 are illustrative flow diagrams of the interactive videogaming environment in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An interactive video gaming environment is an entertainment applicationthat is used by users and players. The interactive video gamingenvironment may be provided in whole or in part at an arcade, at home ona television or personal computer, on a mobile computing device that canexecute software applications, a mobile phone, and as a handheldportable game. The interactive video gaming environment may be packagedin large consoles, game packs that can only be played on the samemanufacturer's hardware (i.e., Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and SonyPlayStation), applications designed for mobile phone operating systems(e.g., ANDROID applications or IPHONE applications) and as CD-ROMs, DVDsor other permanent or temporary removable storage medium. Theinteractive video gaming environment is made up of a program or softwarethat instructs processing circuitry to display specific visual and audioeffects and receive various inputs/responses from a user or player. Insome embodiments, the interactive video gaming environment may beimplemented as a widget on a television, user equipment device or othersuitable media equipment device. Interactive video gaming environmentmay be referred to above and below interchangeably with interactivegaming environment, video game, electronic gaming environment,electronic interactive gaming environment, electronic interactive videogaming environment, electronic interactive video game, media guidanceapplication, media gaming environment, interactive media gamingenvironment, interactive game, or any combination thereof.

Widgets are applications (i.e., collections of instructions executableby a processor) that provide information from the Internet and/orotherwise remotely accessible servers (hereinafter “remote servers”) toa user. A widget may provide this information through web servicesand/or using any suitable communication protocol (e.g., TCP/IP, IPTV,etc.). Widgets may also perform local processing tasks, such as guidinga player through the interactive video gaming environment, receivingplayer actions or user inputs, and generating, providing and/ordisplaying reward and penalty media assets or media content (e.g., videoassets of other users or audio assets of other users) to the player.These widget capabilities, as well as additional widget functionality,will be described in greater detail below.

As referred to herein a media asset categorized as a “reward” is a mediaasset that includes content desirable to the player that encourages theplayer to provide an action that deserves a reward in the future and/orprovides positive reinforcement as to the previous action performed bythe player. As referred to herein a media asset categorized as a“penalty” is a media asset that includes content undesirable to theplayer that discourages the player from providing an action thatdeserves a penalty in the future and/or provides negative reinforcementas to the previous action performed by the player.

A widget may run on a television, user equipment device associated witha television, and/or other user equipment devices capable of providingmedia to a user (e.g., laptop, a mobile phone, e-reader, camera,computer, mobile device, or video player). Television widgets arewidgets that run strictly on the hardware platform (e.g., controlcircuitry) of a television. Typically, television widgets have limitedinteractions with external user equipment devices and databases, such asset top boxes and third party servers. It will be understood that wherethe below description refers to a widget or widgets, the term isinclusive of television widgets and other applications with widget-typefunctionality. For example, a widget may include a JAVA appletexecutable on a mobile device or any other software applicationexecutable on the mobile device (e.g., iPhone application or Androidapplication). JAVA is a registered trademark owned by Sun Microsystems,Inc. In some implementations, the widget may be downloaded or receivedfrom a remote server to the mobile device over an open market for freeor for a fee from an application store (e.g., marketplace or app store)which is hosted by a remote server. Similarly, the interactive videogaming environment or portions of the interactive video gamingenvironment may be downloaded or received from a remote server to themobile device over an open market for free or for a fee from anapplication store (e.g., marketplace or app store) which is hosted bythe remote server.

It should be understood that although the interactive video gamingenvironment is described in the context of being implemented using awidget running on a media equipment device, the interactive video gamingenvironment may be implemented in whole or in part using any suitablesoftware application that is executed on a suitable device. In addition,one user or player may use the interactive video gaming application thatis implemented using a widget on one type of user equipment device whileanother user or player may use the interactive video gaming applicationthat is implemented using software application on another type of devicesuch as a mobile computing device (e.g., cellular telephone). Thevarious implementations and means of accessing the interactive videogaming environment are discussed in greater detail in connection withFIGS. 3a -c.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a widgetmay be used to generate and display an interactive screen of theinteractive video gaming environment and may be used to receive inputsfrom a user or player, transmit those inputs to a remote video gameserver and receive data from the video game server or other serversassociated with the interactive video gaming environment. The player mayaccess the widget on a player equipment device (or player equipment) touse the screen of the interactive video gaming environment. For example,the screen may be a welcome screen with game play instructions, a screenthat has various control options (e.g., capture image or video content),a screen of one of the levels of the game allowing the user to navigatethrough the level, a screen that displays a question or query for theuser to answer, or any other screen shown and described in connectionwith FIGS. 3-8. In some implementations, the widget may communicate withan internal or external gaming database or server to determine theplayer's position (e.g., the state of game play of a given player) inthe interactive gaming environment. Based on the player's position, thewidget may generate the appropriate display screen or transmit/receivecorresponding data from the video game server.

In some embodiments, the player may interact with the interactive screenof the widget by way of player actions. A player action may include atleast one of receiving a video from the player as part of the game play,receiving from the player a response to an inquiry or question providedduring the game play, receiving an indication that the player completeda segment or stage of the interactive video gaming environment,receiving an indication that the player reached or failed to reach asegment of one of the plurality of levels of the interactive gamingenvironment, or any other input received from the player that affectsgame play of the interactive video gaming environment. The player actionmay be transmitted to a remote server (e.g., video game server) by thewidget or the player equipment. As defined herein, the term “level”means certain access rights or game playing space within the videogaming environment available to the player during the course ofcompleting a discrete objective of the video gaming environment. Inaddition, the term “level” may also refer to a degree of difficultywithin the video gaming environment, where the degree of difficulty mayincrease or decrease for each level within the video gaming environment.

In some embodiments, users may interact with one of the interactivescreens generated by a widget of user equipment device to transmit mediaassets (e.g., audio and/or video) to, or receive player actions from,the video game server (e.g., remote server). Media assets may includeconventional television programming or video (provided via traditionalbroadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means), as well aspay-per-view programs or video, on-demand programs or video (as invideo-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming media,downloadable media, Webcasts, etc.), and other types of media or videocontent. The widget may store the media asset on the remote server ortransmit the media asset in real-time, live format to the player (e.g.,in a peer-to-peer manner or through the remote server). In particular,the users may generate a media asset that is categorized as a reward orpenalty. In some implementations, the users may generate the media assetusing the user equipment device (e.g., a video camera or microphonecoupled to or embedded within the user equipment device, such as a videocamera positioned in a plane of the display screen of the user equipmentdevice—front-facing video camera). The remote server may store thereceived media asset in a database with indications of whether eachmedia asset is categorized as a reward or penalty. The database may bein a same location as the remote server, remote from the remote serverand the user equipment device, or within the remote server.

In some embodiments, each of the media assets received by the remoteserver from the users may be associated with a particular measure ofquality. For example, the measure of quality may include popularity ofthe content of the media asset (e.g., popularity of a celebrity in themedia asset, where the measure of quality is greater for celebritiesthat are more popular). The measure of quality may include pictureresolution, length of the videos, popularity the media asset among acommunity, content quality of the media asset, originality of the mediaasset, rarity of the media asset, or any other suitable value that isattributed to the media asset that can be used to indicate that onemedia asset is “better” or more valuable than another media asset. Theremote server may store the received media asset in a database withindications of the quality associated with each media asset. Thedatabase may be in a same location as the remote server, remote from theremote server and the user equipment device, or housed within the remoteserver.

It should be understood that any reference to “remote server” made aboveand below refers to any combination of video asset server, player actionserver, media processing server, advertising server, or any other servernecessary for implementing and/or coordinating operation of the videogaming environment. Video asset server, player action server, mediaprocessing server, advertising server, or any other server necessary forimplementing and/or coordinating operation of the video gamingenvironment may each be in one location, remote from each other, housedwithin the same device, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, a user may generate a sequence of media assetsegments that when played back represent a video or audio media asset.For example, the user may generate a video or audio media asset andbreak up the video or audio media asset into equal or unequal sequentialmedia asset segments. In some implementations, the remote server mayautomatically retrieve from the Internet (e.g., by searching forparticular content) segments of a media asset that together represent avideo or audio media asset. For example, each segment may be an episodeof a series and the video or audio media asset may be a portion of orthe entire series of the media asset. Any reference above or below tothe term “automatically” is synonymous with the phrase “without userinput” or “without further user input.”

In some embodiments, the remote server may transmit or make available areceived player action to a community or group of users (hereinafter“users”). In some implementations, the users do not include the player.The users may access a widget or a screen of the interactive videogaming environment on their own user equipment device (e.g., bynavigating to an appropriate website), receive one or more playeractions from one or more players and assign ranks to the receivedactions.

In some embodiments, the remote server may automatically cross-referencethe received player action with expected player actions to associate arank with the action. For example, the remote server may determinewhether a response to a question received as the player action iscorrect or incorrect. When the player action is correct, the remoteserver may associate a high rank with the player action and whenincorrect, the remote server may associate a low rank with the playeraction. In some implementations, the remote server may compare thereceived player action with similar player actions received from otherplayers to determine whether the player action is substantially similarto a majority or a minority of the other player actions. When the playeraction is substantially similar to the majority, the remote server mayassociate a high rank with the player action and when the player actionis substantially similar to the minority (or is not substantiallysimilar to the majority), the remote server may associate a low rankwith the player action.

In some embodiments, the remote server may make available the playeraction to users of the interactive video gaming environment to receiveinput from each of the users indicating whether they liked or dislikedthe action. In some embodiments, the remote server may prevent users orplayers from transmitting actions or media assets before the users orplayers provide input indicating their like or dislike for apredetermined number of player actions. For example, upon receiving arequest from a user to transmit a media asset (e.g., as a reward orpenalty), the remote server may determine whether the user has ranked(e.g., indicated a like or dislike) for a predetermined number of playeractions (e.g., whether the user ranked more than five other playeractions). If the user has not ranked more than the predetermined numberof player actions, the remote server may transmit a quantity or acertain number (e.g., the predetermined number) of player actions to theuser for ranking. After the user ranks the predetermined number ofplayer actions, the remote server may allow the user to upload,transmit, store or provide the requested media asset to the remoteserver. The remote server may be configured to perform a similardetermination and prevention when the remote server receives a requestfrom a player to transmit or rank a given player action. The terms“action” and “player action” are used interchangeably throughout butshould be understood to have the same meaning.

In some embodiments, the remote server may compute an average of theinput received from the users to determine whether a majority of theusers liked or disliked the action. The remote server may associate theplayer action with a high rank (e.g., a rank that corresponds to areward) when the majority of the users liked the action and associatethe player action with a low rank (e.g., a rank that corresponds to apenalty) when the majority of the plurality of users disliked theaction. In some implementations, the remote server may associate ahigh/low rank with the player action based on whether the playercompleted or failed to complete a level or a section of a level withinthe interactive video gaming environment.

The remote server may determine based on the rank associated with thereceived player action, whether the rank corresponds to a reward or apenalty. The remote server may select one of the media assets receivedfrom the users based on whether the rank associated with the playeraction corresponds to the reward or the penalty. In particular, when therank corresponds to the reward, one of the media contents categorized asa reward is selected and when the rank corresponds to the penalty, oneof the media assets categorized as a penalty is selected. The remoteserver may transmit one of the selected media assets to the player fordisplay as a reward or a penalty. In some embodiments, the remote servermay select for transmission to the player a media asset having a measureof quality greater than another media asset as a reward instead oftransmitting a media asset categorized as a reward. Similarly, theremote server may select for transmission to the player a media assethaving a measure of quality lower than another media asset as a penaltyinstead of transmitting a media asset categorized as a penalty.

In each case, discussed above and below, where the remote servertransmits the media asset as a reward or penalty to the user, instead oftransmitting the entire contents of the media asset as the reward orpenalty to the user, the remote server may transmit a communication thatincludes a link to the media asset. The user may select the link andnavigate to a location (e.g., local storage location or remote storagelocation on another server) to retrieve the contents of the media asset.

In some embodiments, the remote server may transmit, to the player as areward, a media asset segment (e.g., a 5 second clip) that represents aportion of a video media asset following a current playback position ofthe player in the video media asset. Similarly, the remote server maytransmit, to the player as a penalty, a media asset segment (e.g., a 5second clip) that represents a portion of the video media asset that isprevious to the current playback position of the player in the videomedia asset.

In some embodiments, after selecting a media asset and beforetransmitting the selected media asset to the user, the remote server maydetermine whether the player has previously accessed the media asset asa reward or penalty or with the particular measure of quality. When theplayer has previously accessed the media asset, the remote server mayselect a different media asset that is categorized the same as thepreviously selected media asset or is associated with substantially thesame measure of quality as the previously selected media asset fortransmission to the player in place of the previously accessed mediaasset.

In some embodiments, the remote server instead of selecting one of themedia assets, indicates to the widget of the player equipment whetherthe action is associated with a high/low rank (e.g., whether the rankcorresponds to a reward or a penalty). The widget may then select theappropriate media asset for presentation or display to the player from alocal database of stored media assets or links to remotely stored mediaassets.

In some embodiments, the widget may be an exercise application runningon user equipment. When an exercise application runs on user equipment,the user equipment is referred to as exercise equipment. The exerciseequipment may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone coupled to abiological attribute monitor such as a heart rate monitor, or sensingcircuitry that measures a level of exercise such as a shoe that measuresdistance the user is running), an exercise machine (e.g., treadmill,bicycle machine, step machine, or any other suitable stand-aloneexercise machine), user television equipment such as a set top box thatincludes or is coupled to suitable circuitry for monitoring biologicalattributes or sensing circuitry for measuring a level of exercise, orany other suitable device capable of running an exercise application.

In some implementations, a widget may monitor or continuously monitor alength of time the user is using the exercise equipment. The widget maydetermine whether the length of time exceeds a predetermined exercisethreshold (e.g., whether the user has run for longer than one mile). Thewidget may select a media asset for playback (displaying or sounding) tothe user based on whether the length of time exceeds a predeterminedexercise threshold. For example, the widget may provide or display amedia asset having a first measure of quality when the length of timedoes not exceed the predetermined exercise threshold. The widget mayprovide or display another media asset having a second greater measureof quality when the length of time exceeds the predetermined exercisethreshold. The media assets may be retrieved for display from localstorage or from a remote server over a communications network (e.g., theInternet). The first media asset may be a first segment (e.g., a clip)of a sporting event and the second media asset may be a second segment(e.g., a clip) that is later in time in the sporting event or that islonger than the first media asset.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system 100 for providing reward andpenalty media based on player action in an interactive video gamingenvironment (e.g., using a widget 105) in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. Widget 105 may be resident inuser/player entertainment equipment 104 within user/player equipment108. Alternatively, widget 105 may be resident in user/playerinternet-enabled equipment 106 within user/player equipment 108.User/player equipment 108 may include both user/player entertainmentequipment 104 and user/player internet-enabled equipment 106.

The term “player” refers to the person or viewer performing a particularaction or interacting with the interactive video gaming environment(e.g., transmitting a video or media asset for ranking). The term “user”or “users” refers to other players, viewers or persons that contributeto game play of the player in the interactive video gaming environment(e.g., ranking a video or media asset received from the player). Theplayer can sometimes become a user when the player is contributing togame play of another one of the users. The player and the users maycommunicate, perform and receive each other's actions or contributionsin the interactive video gaming environment system 100. In particular,each player or user may be associated with particular user/playerequipment 108 that executes or accesses the interactive video gamingapplication (e.g., using widget 105 or using a computing device thataccesses a website on the Internet).

Widget 105 may be a software application that is downloaded orinstalled, for instance, in user/player entertainment equipment 104.Widget 105 may be executed by an interpreter or virtual machine running,for example, on control circuitry of user/player entertainment equipment104 (e.g., control circuitry 204 of FIG. 2). Widget 105 may allow usersto interact with web services while watching television, media assets orother video asset or program on user/player entertainment equipment 104.In some embodiments, widget 105 may run on the Yahoo! Connected TVplatform, and user/player entertainment equipment 104 may be atelevision manufactured with built-in support for widget 105 (e.g., fromone of Samsung Group, Sony Group, LG Electronics, or Vizio).

In some embodiments, widget 105 may be packaged and/or encoded in theETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received by control circuitry 204of FIG. 2 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by a user agentrunning on control circuitry 204. For example, widget 105 may be an EBIFapplication and user/player entertainment equipment 104 may be a set-topbox. In other embodiments, the widget may be defined by a series ofJAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine orother suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 204 of FIG. 2.In yet other embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digitalmedia encoding schemes), the widget may be encoded and transmitted in anMPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio and video packets of aprogram. In this embodiment, widget 105 may be an OCAP widget (e.g., atru2way widget), and user/player entertainment equipment 104 may be aset-top box.

In other embodiments, user/player entertainment equipment 104 mayinclude user television equipment, user computer equipment, a wirelessuser communication device, an e-reader, a set-top box, an ipad, a touchscreen tablet device, a media equipment device, mobile telephone, or anyother type of user entertainment equipment for accessing media, such asa non-portable or portable gaming machine.

In some embodiments, the user may enter settings information, such asuser profile information, user login information, and user permissionsinformation, into user/player internet-enabled equipment 106. Assumingthat the user sets their permissions such that user profile informationmay be stored externally, the user profile information may be stored ina remote data store (e.g., one of databases 112). Otherwise, the userprofile information may be stored in a data store within user/playerequipment 108 (e.g., storage 208 of FIG. 2). User/playerinternet-enabled equipment 106 may include a set-top box, an integratedreceiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a PC, alaptop, a tablet, an e-reader, a WebTV box, a personal computertelevision (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC media center, an ipad, atouch screen tablet device, a mobile telephone, a mobile entertainmentdevice, a media equipment device, a television set, a digital storagedevice, a DVD recorder, a video-cassette recorder (VCR), a local mediaserver, wireless user communications devices, portable exerciseequipment, stand-alone exercise equipment or any other suitableinternet-enabled or non-internet-enabled equipment. WEBTV is a trademarkowned by Microsoft Corp. Wireless communications devices may includePDAs, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a portable music player, aportable gaming machine, an ipad, a touch screen tablet device, or otherwireless devices.

In system 100, there is typically more than one user/player equipment108 but only one is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, each user may utilize more than one type ofuser/player equipment 108 (e.g., a user may have a television set and acomputer) and also more than one of each type of user/player equipment108 (e.g., a user may have a PDA and a mobile telephone and/or multipletelevision sets).

It should be noted that, with the advent of television tuner cards forPC's, WebTV, and the integration of video into other user equipmentdevices, the lines have become blurred when trying to classify a deviceas a user/player entertainment equipment 104 or a user/playerinternet-enabled equipment 106. In fact, in some embodiments, widget 105may run on user internet-enabled equipment 106 in addition to userentertainment equipment 104, and settings information may be enteredusing either type of user equipment. Each user equipment 108 may utilizeat least some of the system features described below with respect toFIG. 2 and, as a result, include flexibility with respect to the type ofinteractive applications available on the device. For example,user/player entertainment equipment 104 may be internet-enabled allowingfor access to settings information through the Internet, whileuser/player internet-enabled equipment 106 may include a tuner allowingfor access to television programming, and both may run widget 105together or separately. It should therefore be understood that, in someembodiments, user/player entertainment equipment 104 and user/playerinternet-enabled equipment 106 are integrated components of a singleuser device (i.e., user/player equipment 108).

Widget 105 may have the same display layout and/or execution parameterson the various types of user equipment or may be tailored to the displayand/or processing capabilities of the user equipment. For example, onuser/player entertainment equipment 104, widget 105 may run as apersistent (e.g., always-running) application. In another example, thewidget display screens may be scaled down for wireless usercommunications devices.

In addition to widget 105, user/player equipment 108 may access and/orrun a media guidance application that provides an interface that allowsusers to efficiently navigate through media selections and easilyidentify media content that they may desire. Media guidance applicationsmay take various forms depending on the media for which they provideguidance. One typical type of media guidance application is aninteractive television program guide or interactive media guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides or EPGs) are well-known guidance applicationsthat, among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate manytypes of media content including conventional television programming(provided via traditional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, orother means), as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (asin video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streamingmedia, downloadable media, Webcasts, etc.), recorded programs, and othertypes of media content (e.g., audio content). Moreover, media guidanceapplications allow users to navigate among and locate content related tothe media content for which guidance is provided including, for example,video clips, audio assets, articles, advertisements, chat sessions,games, etc. Media guidance applications may be provided as on-lineapplications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or as stand-aloneapplications or clients.

The aforementioned settings information entered by the user may beconsistent across in-home devices and remote devices. Settings includethose user profile, user login, and user permission settings describedherein, as well as media favorites, media guidance settings, displaypreferences, and other desirable settings. For example, if a user sets achannel as a favorite on, for example, the web site www.tvguide.com ontheir personal computer at their office, the same channel would appearas a favorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., in a media guidanceapplication running on user entertainment equipment 104). Therefore,changes in settings made on one user equipment device can change theuser's experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as monitored user activity (e.g., activity monitored by widget105).

In some embodiments, user profile information may include data frommonitoring a user's activity. For example, user interaction with widget105, a media guidance application, and/or any other suitable applicationor feature (e.g., running on or displayed by user/player equipment 108)may be monitored and recorded. User profile information may also includeuser-identifying information (e.g., the user's name), user viewinghabits, user demographic information, or any other suitable datarelating to and/or describing a user. User profile information may bestored within user/player equipment 108 and/or at a remote location(e.g., databases 112).

The user equipment devices of user/player equipment 108 may be coupledto communications network 130. Namely, user/player entertainmentequipment 104 and user/player internet-enabled equipment 106 may becoupled to communications network 130 using communications paths 133 and134, respectively. Communications network 130 may be one or morenetworks including a local area network, a wide area network, theInternet, a mobile phone network, peer-to-peer network, mobile device(e.g., Blackberry) network, cable network, public switched telephonenetwork, or other types of communications networks. BLACKBERRY is aservice mark owned by Research In Motion Limited, Corp. Paths 131-141may separately or together include one or more communications paths,such as, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a path thatsupports Internet communications (e.g., TCP/IP, IPTV, etc.),peer-to-peer connections, free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast orother wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wirelesscommunications path or combination of such paths. Communications withuser/player equipment 108 may be provided by one or more of thesecommunications paths, but are shown as single paths in FIG. 1 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. Communications between multipleuser/player equipment 108 may be provided by one or more of thesecommunications paths, but are shown as single paths in FIG. 1 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing or may be handled through an intermediatesource, such as outside provider processor 113.

Although communications paths are not drawn between various user/playerequipment 108 (e.g., between user/player entertainment equipment 104 anduser/player internet-enabled equipment 106), these devices maycommunicate directly with each other through communications network 130and/or via short-range point-to-point communication paths, such as USBcables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared,IEEE 802-11x, ZigBee, Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE),etc.), or other short-range communication or Low-Rate Wireless PersonalArea Networks (LR-WPANs) communication via wired or wireless paths.BLUETOOTH is a certification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC.User/player equipment 108 may also communicate with each otherindirectly, e.g., through an indirect path via communications network130.

In some embodiments, widget 105 is invoked expressly by the user, forinstance, in response to an indication or selection received from theuser (e.g., via user input interface 210 of FIG. 2). In otherembodiments, widget 105 is invoked automatically, for example, uponselection or display of a video asset or request to access or use theinteractive video gaming environment.

In response to invocation, widget 105 may send information to serviceprovider 102 over communications link 132 and/or to outside providerprocessor 113 (hereinafter “OPP 113”) over communications network 130(including, e.g., paths 133 and 140). In some embodiments,communications with service provider 102 and OPP 113 may be exchangedover one or more communications paths, but are shown as two separatepaths in FIG. 1 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition,there may be more than one of each of service provider 102 and OPP 113,but only one of each is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. As will be described, the information that widget 105 sends tothese sources may be as little as an identification number, anindication of the channel or video asset the user is watching, and/or anindication of a particular interactive video gaming environment oraction in the interactive video gaming environment selected by the user.

Service provider 102 may include one or more types of media distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemhead-end, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other media content providers. NBC is a trademarkowned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademarkowned by the ABC, INC., and HBO is a trademark owned by the Home BoxOffice, Inc. Service provider 102 may be the originator of mediacontent, e.g., a television or internet broadcaster, a Webcast orstreaming video provider, a digital cable service provider, a bundledcommunication (e.g., Internet, telephone, and TV) provider such asVerizon FiOS, a provider of digital on-demand media, a cellulartelephone service provider, etc. Alternatively, service provider 102 maynot be the originator of media content, e.g., an on-demand media contentprovider, an Internet provider of video content of broadcast programsfor downloading or streaming, etc. Service provider 102 may be thecentral source from which information pertaining to the interactivevideo gaming environment is received by widget 105 or user/playerequipment 108. For example, service provider 102 (e.g., applicationstore) may store the program code (e.g., the application or app) forexecuting the interactive video gaming environment on a particularuser/player equipment 108 (e.g., an iPhone or iPad). The user may berequired to purchase the program code to download and access theinteractive video gaming environment on user/player equipment 108.

Service provider 102 may include cable sources, satellite providers,on-demand providers, Internet providers, or other providers of mediacontent or interactive video gaming environment. Service provider 102may also include a remote media server used to store different types ofmedia content (including video content selected by a user, for example,on a website), actions performed by a player in the interactive videogaming environment, or media or videos provided as rewards or penaltiesby users of the interactive video gaming environment in a locationremote from any of the user equipment devices. As used herein, the termbroadcaster may refer to an analog or digital signal provider, a cablenetwork, a satellite provider, an Internet website, a cellular telephonenetwork provider, an Internet content provider, or any such providerthat may distribute media content such as video assets or interactivevideo gaming environment information to user/player equipment 108. Asused herein, the terms broadcaster's website or media broadcaster'swebsite may refer to one or many web addresses, server addresses,databases, or other sources of media information or media content,specific to a particular broadcaster, and associated with Internetwebsites or other content providers. Systems and methods for remotestorage of media content, and providing remotely stored media content touser equipment are discussed in greater detail in connection with Elliset al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/332,244, filed Jun. 11,1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Service provider 102 may also provide media guidance data, such as medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, media titles, media descriptions, ratings information (e.g.,parental control ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or categoryinformation, actor information, logo data for broadcasters' orproviders' logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, highdefinition, etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text, images, mediaclips or segments, etc.), on-demand information, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired media asset selections.

OPP 113 may include a data processor (e.g., any suitable computer serverequipment) operated by an outside provider (e.g., the provider of widget105) that can act as a central hub for communications between widget 105running on user/player equipment 108, service provider 102, varioususer/player equipments 108 and third party servers 122. As will bediscussed, third party servers 122 may include video asset server 114,player action server 116, media processing server 118, advertisementserver 122, and other servers 120. In some embodiments, OPP 113 maystore and retrieve information from databases 112. Databases 112 may beany suitable computer server equipment and/or any suitable data storagedevice.

In some embodiments, OPP 113 may act as a clearinghouse of informationfor providing data and/or other interactive features to the user ofwidget 105. To achieve this function, OPP may exchange information withthird party servers 122 via communications network 130 and/orcommunication links 136-140. For example, OPP 113 may receive a videoasset from video asset server 114 and provide the video asset to userequipment 108 via communication network 130. Alternatively, userequipment 108 may receive the video asset directly from video assetserver 114. As another example, OPP 113 may transmit a request for avideo asset or a portion of a video asset (e.g., a specific frame of thevideo asset) to video asset server 114. Video asset server 114 mayfulfill the request by providing the video asset or portion of the videoasset to the OPP 113 via communications network 130. Alternatively,video asset server 114 may fulfill the request by providing the videoasset or portion of the video asset to the OPP 113 from databases 112via communications network 130.

In some embodiments, OPP 113 may receive, from user/player equipment108, a player action relating to game play in the interactive videogaming environment. OPP 113 may store the receive player action inplayer action server 116. OPP 113 may make available the player actionstored in player action server 116 to users of other user/playerequipment 108 for ranking the player action. For example, OPP 113 mayreceive a request from a user to rank player actions. In response, OPP113 may retrieve one or more player actions from player action server116 and transmit the retrieved player actions to the requesting user forranking. In some implementations, OPP 113 may receive a request from auser to upload, store or provide a media asset to video asset server 114(e.g., as a reward or a penalty video or media asset). OPP 113 maydetermine whether the requesting user has ranked a predetermined numberof player actions before allowing the user to submit the media asset. Inparticular, OPP 113 may retrieve from player action server 116 (eitherrandomly or on a last recently stored basis) a predetermined number ofplayer actions for provision to the requesting user for ranking. Afterthe user ranks the retrieved player actions, OPP 113 may forward themedia asset received from the user to video asset server 114 for storageor provision to another player.

In some implementations, OPP 113 may generate a ranking for the playeraction based on known or expected responses or player actions, or basedon player actions received from other players. For example, OPP 113 mayretrieve from databases 112 an expected player action based on a stateof game play of the interactive video gaming environment the player isin. In particular, OPP 113 may receive from user/player equipment 108with the player action information identifying state of game play in theinteractive gaming environment (e.g., a level in the game, position inthe game or any other suitable information relating to game play). OPP113 may compare the received player action with the expected response toassociate a high/low rank with the player action. In some embodiments,OPP 113 may compare the received player action with player actionsreceived from other players to determine whether the player action issimilar to a majority or minority of the other player actions. OPP 113may associate the received player action with a high/low rank based onwhether the rank is substantially similar to the majority (e.g.,associate a high rank) or minority (e.g., associate a low rank). OPP 113may store the rank associated with the player action in databases 112.

In some embodiments, OPP 113 may select a reward or a penalty mediaasset from video asset server 114 based on the rank associated with theplayer action. For example, OPP 113 may select a reward media asset whenthe player action is ranked high and select a penalty media asset whenthe player action is ranked low. OPP 113 may transmit a selected one ofthe media assets from video asset server 114 to user/player equipment108 as the reward or penalty for display to the player. OPP 113 maytransmit together or separately from the media asset to user/playerequipment 108 information indicating the level of the rank associatedwith the player action for display to the player.

In some embodiments, OPP 113 may receive from user/player equipment 108an indication as to whether a length of time a user has exercised orused exercise equipment exceeds a predetermined exercise threshold. OPP113 may select a media asset from video asset server 114 based on theindication. For example, OPP 113 may select a media asset associatedwith a first measure of quality from video asset server 114 when thelength of time does not exceed or fails to exceed the predeterminedexercise threshold. Moreover, OPP 113 may select another media assetassociated with a second measure of quality that is greater than thefirst measure of quality from video asset server 114 when the length oftime exceeds the predetermined exercise threshold. In someimplementations, OPP 113 may determine whether the length of timeexceeds the predetermined exercise threshold by retrieving an exerciseprofile associated with the user from databases 112 andcross-referencing information about a current state of exercise of theuser with information in the exercise profile. The exercise profile mayinclude historical exercise information and biological informationassociated with the user (e.g., height of the user, weight of the user,exercise goals of the user, previously completed or incompletedexercises).

In some embodiments, OPP 113 may host a website associated with theinteractive video gaming environment. Player/user equipment 108 mayaccess the website to allow the user or player to submit player actions,access the interactive video gaming environment, submit one or moremedia assets and/or rank player actions. Any functionality of theapplications provided by user/player equipment 108 described herein maybe provided in a similar manner by accessing a website online using aweb browser or other website accessing application running onuser/player equipment 108.

Video asset server 114 may include any suitable computer serverequipment capable of broadcasting, storing or delivering media content(e.g., media assets received from various users of the interactive videogaming environment). Such video asset servers may include traditionalhead-ends, such as television broadcast stations, and may includeInternet servers configured to deliver content upon request (e.g.,on-demand, streaming content, downloadable content). For example, amedia asset server may be one belonging to Blockbuster Video, Hulu,Netflix, Apple iTunes, or Amazon.com. In some embodiments, video assetserver 114 may send inventory and other information to OPP 113 viacommunications network 130. For example, video asset server 114 may sendOPP 113 information regarding media content available viavideo-on-demand or digital download. The inventory information may beprovided, for example, to a media guidance application on user equipment108. The inventory may include information identifying all or some ofthe media assets available on video asset server that are provided byusers or players of the interactive video gaming application (e.g.,using user/player equipment 108). In some embodiments, video assetserver 114 may be instructed by OPP 113 to enable a user of oneuser/player equipment 108 to directly or indirectly connect with aplayer of another user/player equipment 108 to allow real-time or directstreaming of a media asset (e.g., video asset) from user/playerequipment 108 of the user to user/player equipment 108 of the player.

Video asset server 114 may store multiple copies of a particular videoasset or media asset where each video asset or media asset copy isassociated with a different measure of quality. For example, video assetserver 114 may store multiple copies of a video asset where the measureof quality of each copy includes different image qualities, aspectratios, picture resolutions. Video asset server 114 may associate aclass (or set) of videos with a first measure of quality and mayassociate another class (or set) of videos with a different secondmeasure of quality. The measure of quality of the first class (or set)may be greater than the second class (or set) in that the first class orset may be videos that are longer, more popular among a community, havebetter content quality, are more original, are better quality, have agreater aspect ratio, have a greater picture resolution or are morerare.

Player action server 116 may include any suitable computer serverequipment capable of storing or receiving a media asset, image, video,text, or audio, or any combination thereof. Player action server 116 mayreceive from user/player equipment 108 an action provided by a playerduring game play in the interactive video gaming environment. Forexample, user/player equipment 108 may receive from a player or create avideo and may transmit the video to player action server 116. Playeraction server 116 may communicate with OPP 113 to allow users ofuser/player equipment 108 in the interactive video gaming environment toaccess the received video or action and provide a rating for the video(e.g., the player action). Player action server 116 may receive andcompile (e.g., compute an average of) ranks received from users ofuser/player equipments 108 and associate the compiled ranks with theaction received from the player. Player action server 116 maycommunicate with databases 112 to retrieve user profile information andother relevant data for receipt and storage of a player action. Inaddition, player action server 116 may communicate with databases 112 tostore and associate a compiled rank with a received player action.Player action server 116 may be queried through OPP 113 or directly byuser/player equipment 108 to retrieve and provide the player with thecompiled rank. Alternatively, user information may be provided to playeraction server 116 from OPP 113 or widget 105. Player action server 116may include, for example, a repository of player images, videos, audioor other media content. In some embodiments, player action server 116 isthe same server as video asset server 114 and/or media processing server118. Player action server 116 may receive as the action a video from theplayer as part of the game play, a response to an inquiry or questionprovided during the game play, an indication that the player completed asegment or stage of the interactive video gaming environment, or anindication that the player reached or failed to reach a segment of oneof the plurality of levels of the interactive gaming environment.

In some embodiments, player action server 116 may cross-reference areceived player action with known or expected actions to assign a rankor rating to the received player action. For example, player actionserver 116 may receive from user/player equipment 108 as the playeraction, an answer to a question provided during game play of theinteractive video gaming environment. Player action server 116 maycompare the received answer with a correct answer to determine whetherthe received answer is correct. Player action server 116 may assign ahigh rank or the highest rank possible when the answer is correct oralternatively, may assign a low rank or a lowest rank possible when theanswer is incorrect. Similarly, player action server 116 may compare thereceived answer with answers to the same or similar question receivedfrom other users in the interactive video gaming environment todetermine whether the received answer from the player is the same orcorresponds to a majority of the answers provided by the other playersor not. Player action server 116 may assign a high rank or the highestrank possible when the answer is the same or corresponds to the majorityof answers or alternatively, may assign a low rank or a lowest rankpossible when the answer is not the same or does not correspond to themajority of answers.

Advertisement server 122 may include any suitable computer serverequipment capable of storing and selecting advertisements (e.g., image,video or audio content) that promote an interactive video gamingenvironment. The interactive video gaming environment being promoted maybe different from the interactive video gaming environment being used oraccessed by the player (e.g., a different game may be promoted(currently available or that may become available in the future) and maybe owned by the same entity as the entity that owns the game beingplayed by the player). The advertisement may promote other features ofthe interactive video gaming environment (e.g., upgrades, new content orvideo downloads, etc.), media, pay-per-view media assets, videoon-demand media assets, television programming, Internet content,tangible and intangible products, or other suitable information.Advertisement server 122 may be capable of selecting an advertisementthat is of a particular length, has particular content or is otherwiserelated or unrelated to a player action or video asset that is selectedfor delivery to a player or user. Advertisement server 122 may store indatabases 112 an association between different levels of game play inthe interactive gaming environment and advertisements. Advertisementserver 122 may select an advertisement based on the association indatabases 112 and the level in the game play in which the action isreceived from the player. In some implementations, each of the levels inthe interactive video gaming environment is ordered based on increasinglevels of difficulty in the interactive video gaming environment.

Media processing server 118 may include any suitable computer serverequipment capable of processing player actions, video assets andadvertisements provided respectively from player action server 116,video asset server 114, and advertisement server 122. Processing mayinclude combining player actions with advertisements stored inadvertisement server 122 and combining video assets with advertisementsstored in advertisement server 122. For example, media processing server118 may be instructed by OPP 113 to place an advertisement (e.g., video,audio or image) before or at some specified time during playback of thecontent of a player action or video asset so that when the player actionor video asset is transmitted for playback to the player or user, theadvertisement is displayed before or at some point during the playeraction or video asset. Similarly, media processing server 118 may beinstructed by OPP 113 to place the advertisement (e.g., video, audio orimage) within the content of a player action or video asset so that whenthe player action or video asset is transmitted for playback to theplayer or user, the advertisement is displayed simultaneously with theplayer action or video asset (e.g., in an opaque, transparent, orpartially transparent overlay). Media processing server 118 may alsotranscode or convert media assets received from one user using one typeof media equipment device (e.g., a set-top box) to a form suitable forplayback on a different type of media equipment device (e.g., an iPad, atablet device, or touch screen interface device).

Media processing server 118 may provide the processed player actions,video assets and advertisements to widget 105 on user equipment 108(e.g., through OPP 113). It should be understood that, in someembodiments, media processing server 118 may be the same server asserver 114, 122 and/or 116. Media processing server may also communicatewith other servers 120, the latter of which may perform some or all ofthe processing steps.

Other servers 120 may include any suitable computer server equipment notmentioned in the description above. For example, other servers 120 mayinclude image or video processing web sites or applications. In someembodiments, other servers 120 may transmit information to OPP 113 or towidget 105 (on user equipment 108) via network 130.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114, player action server 116,media processing server 118, advertisement server 122 or other servers120 may respond to requests from OPP 113 to process player actionsand/or receive and store user media assets (e.g., videos).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of generalized user equipment 200 that maybe used to implement widget 105 and/or all or a portion of theinteractive video gaming environment in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention. User equipment 200 may be substantially thesame as, or may be comprised within, user/player equipment devices 104and 106 of FIG. 1, or user/player equipment 108. User equipment device200 may receive and send information from service provider 102 and/orOPP 113 (FIG. 1) via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 202. I/O path202 may provide data to control circuitry 204, which may includeprocessing circuitry 206, camera 204, and storage 208. I/O path 202 mayconnect control circuitry 204 (and specifically processing circuitry206) to communications network 130 of FIG. 1. I/O functions may beprovided by one or more communication paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 2 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 204 may include any suitable processing circuitry 206such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices,etc. In some embodiments, control circuitry 204 executes instructionsfor widget 105 and/or other applications stored in memory (i.e., storage208). In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 204 mayinclude communications circuitry suitable for communicating withnetworks or servers. Communications circuitry may include a cable modem,an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, or a wireless modem forcommunications with other equipment. Such communications may involve theInternet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(described in more detail in connection with FIG. 1). In addition,communications circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peercommunication between user equipment devices 200, or communicationbetween user equipment devices 200 located remotely from each other(described in more detail in connection with FIG. 1).

Memory (e.g., random-access memory, read-only memory, or any othersuitable memory), hard drives, optical drives, flash drives, opticalstorage device, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage devices(e.g., DVD recorder, CD recorder, video cassette recorder, or othersuitable recording device) may be provided as storage 208 that is partof control circuitry 204. Storage 208 may include one or more of theabove types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device 200may include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorder as a secondary storage device.Storage 208 may be used to store various types of media and datadescribed herein, including program information, widget settings, userpreferences or profile information, media assets, video assets, playeractions, states within the interactive video gaming environment for oneor more users, or other data used in operating widget 105 and/oruser/player equipment 208. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., tolaunch a boot-up routine and other instructions).

Control circuitry 204 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. For example, control circuitry may include a display driverfor driving display 212, any number of buffers (e.g., to hold data to bedisplayed), and/or switching circuitry (e.g., to select which buffercontains the data to be displayed and/or which buffer should be read bythe display driver). Encoding circuitry (e.g., for convertingover-the-air, analog, or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage)may also be provided. Control circuitry 204 may also include scalercircuitry for upconverting and downconverting media into the preferredoutput format of the user equipment 200. Control circuitry 204 may alsoinclude digital-to-analog converter circuitry and analog-to-digitalconverter circuitry for converting between digital and analog signals.The tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment toreceive and to display, to play, or to record media content. The tuningand encoding circuitry may also be used to receive data for widget 105.The circuitry described herein, including, for example, the tuning,video generating, encoding, decoding, scaler, switching, display driver,and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented using software runningon one or more general purpose or specialized processors. Multipletuners may be provided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g.,watch and record functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions,multiple-tuner recording, etc). If storage 208 is provided as a separatedevice from user equipment device 200, the tuning and encoding circuitry(including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage 208.

A user may issue commands to the control circuitry 204 using user inputinterface 210. User input interface 210 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 212 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 200. Display 212 may be one or more of a monitor, atelevision, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, lightemitting diode (LED) display, plasma display, or any other suitableequipment for displaying visual images. In some implementations, display212 may be the same device as user input interface 210 (e.g., when userequipment device 200 includes a touch screen interface). Display 212 mayinclude multiple display screens (e.g., one of the front of userequipment device 200 and one of the back of user equipment device 200).In some embodiments, display 212 may be HDTV-capable. Speakers 214 maybe provided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device200 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and othermedia content displayed on display 212 may be played through speakers214. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver(not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 214.

In some embodiments, user equipment device 200 may include camera 204which may be capable of capturing high-definition (e.g., HD, SD),three-dimensional (3D), or any other suitable video and/or imagecontent. In the case of 3D video or image capture, camera 204 mayinclude multiple lenses or multiple cameras spaced apart a predetermineddistance to capture stereoscopic images that, when viewed by a user witha stereoscopic optical device, appear in 3D. Processing circuitry 206may activate camera 204 upon receiving a user instruction through userinput interface 210. Camera 204 may be used to create media content andstore the media content in storage 208. In some implementations, camera204 may be used to transmit live or real-time video and/or audio from auser/player to another user/player. In such circumstances, storage 208may be avoided by camera 204 or may be used as a buffer to time delaythe media content captured by camera 204 before transmitting the mediacontent to another user/player.

Camera 204 may be a front-facing camera that is placed within display212. This allows the user to face camera 204 while viewing display 212.In some embodiments, camera 204 may include two cameras, one on a frontpanel of user equipment device 200 and one on a back panel of userequipment device 200. The camera on the front panel of user equipmentdevice 200 may be the front-facing camera that is within display 212that can take images of the user while the user interacts with display212. The camera on the back panel of the user equipment device 200 maytake images of the user when the user turns user equipment device 200over and front panel display 212 away from the user.

User equipment device 200 may be a representation of, or implementedwithin, user equipment 108 of FIG. 1, and may thus run widget 105.Accordingly, camera 204 may be used and/or activated by widget 105.Although OPP 113, service provider 102, databases 112 and servers 122are drawn separately, they may all be housed in a single device at asingle geographical location, multiple devices at the same or differentgeographical locations and/or on a single integrated circuit coupled tocommunications network 130.

FIGS. 3A-C show illustrative display screens on various platforms thatmay be used to provide access to an interactive video gaming environmentin accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In particular, FIG.3A shows an illustrative display screen 300A of an interactive videogaming environment running on user equipment device 200. Display screen300A may be provided by display 212 and may include a video (e.g., atelevision program or media asset) in a main portion 330 of the display,a browse overlay 320 and a widget display 310 that provides access tothe interactive video gaming environment. Widget display 310 may includeany of the screens of the interactive video gaming environment that thewidget may generate such as the screens shown and described inconnection with FIGS. 4-8.

User equipment device 200 may be a television equipment device thatincludes a tuner or network communications interface to access mediaassets (e.g., television programs or videos of programming). The tunermay be instructed by a user to tune to particular channels and display,as the video display on main portion 330, the video on the givenchannel. The channel may be a website or portal to a server on theInternet or other network that transmits media content. In suchcircumstances, the website or server may transmit the content atscheduled time intervals so that a user knows what content to expect andat what time. Network communications interface may allow the user tobrowse the Internet and download or stream as video on main portion 330a media asset from a website on the Internet. In particular, video 330may be any media asset such as a television program, a video asset,audio asset, multimedia asset, pay-per-view media asset, on-demand mediaasset, streaming media asset, website, page of an e-book, or any othercontent suitable for display on display 212 of the user equipment device200.

Processing circuitry 206 may receive a user request to browse for othermedia assets (e.g., program listings) and in response may retrieve fromstorage 208 a media asset that is currently available or will beavailable in the future. Processing circuitry 206 may display overlay320 simultaneously with video on main portion 330 to allow the user tosee the media assets that are currently available and that will becomeavailable in the future. For example, overlay 320 may include a time bar324 that informs the user about when a given media asset is availableand from what source (e.g., when the program is scheduled for broadcaston a given channel such as a television channel or station). Overlay 320may also include a title 322 and any other information that uniquelyidentifies the media asset. Processing circuitry 206 may receive a userselection to view detailed information about the media asset in overlay320, schedule a reminder or a recording for the media asset in overlay320 or tune to or access the media asset in overlay 320. The media assetdisplayed in overlay 320 may be the same as the media asset displayed invideo 330 or may be different. In particular, overlay 320 may provideinformation about the currently viewed media asset shown as video inmain portion 330 or about a media asset available through another sourceand/or at a different time.

In some embodiments, widget display 310 may be displayed simultaneouslywith video on main portion 330 and overlay 320. Widget display 310 mayoccupy a larger portion of the screen than video 330, a smaller portion,or an equal portion as video 330. Processing circuitry 206 may receive auser input to interchange video 330 with widget display 310. In responseto the user input, processing circuitry 206 may display widget 310 inthe position where video on main portion 330 was on the screen and video330 in the position on the screen where widget 310 was displayed.

In some implementations, widget display 310 may be displayed in fullscreen view when processing circuitry 206 receives a user command todisplay the interactive video gaming environment on the full screen ofthe user television equipment. For example, widget display 310 may bedisplayed in full screen view when the user highlights the region ofwidget display 310 and presses a SELECT key or when the user through thetouch screen of user equipment device 200 touches the region of widgetdisplay 310.

In some embodiments, the user may control the video displayed as videoon main portion 330 on user equipment device 200 with a first user inputinterface 210 (e.g., a remote control or touch screen) and may interactwith the interactive video gaming environment displayed in widgetdisplay 310 using a second user input interface 210 (e.g., a joystick,camera, mouse pad, voice command, gaming remote control, mobile phone,mobile device, touch screen, or other suitable interface). In someembodiments, the control of video on main portion 330 and widget display310 may be performed using a single user input interface 210 (e.g., aremote control with a built-in camera 204 or a touch screen where thevideo is displayed).

In some embodiments, an advertisement may be received in the interactivevideo gaming environment through widget 105. In particular, OPP 113 maycombine a video received from video asset server 114 with anadvertisement received from advertisement server 122 using mediaprocessing server 118. The combined media asset may be provided towidget 105 for display to the player as a reward or penalty. In suchcircumstances or any other circumstance where widget 105 receives anadvertisement from the interactive video gaming environment, widget 105may display the received advertisement separately from the associatedvideo.

For example, widget 105 may instruct processing circuitry 206 to displaythe advertisement in advertisement region 301 (which may or may not bepart of overlay 320). Widget 105 may instruct processing circuitry 206to display the media content associated with the advertisement (e.g.,the video received from video asset server 114 and that is combined withan advertisement received from advertisement server 122) at the sametime, after or before the advertisement in widget display 310. Inparticular, a video received from video asset server 114 may bedisplayed as a reward in widget display 310 and an advertisement (e.g.,an image for a sponsor of the interactive video gaming environment) maybe displayed inside of widget display 310 or in advertisement region 301of the display.

FIG. 3B shows an illustrative display screen 300B of an interactivevideo gaming environment running on user computer equipment (e.g.,personal computer, tablet computing device, iPad, laptop and/or mobilecomputing device). Display screen 300B may be provided by display 212and may include main screen content 350 (e.g., web page of a website) ina main portion of the display, an address bar 340 and a widget display312 (e.g., a pop-up display, or an overlay on top of main screen content350) that provides access to the interactive video gaming environment.Widget display 312 may include any of the screens of the interactivevideo gaming environment that the widget may generate such as thescreens shown and described in connection with FIGS. 4-8.

The user computer equipment may include a network communicationsinterface to access media assets or Internet content (e.g., websites).Network communications interface may allow the user to browse theInternet and download or stream as main screen content 350 a media assetfrom a website on the Internet. In particular, main screen content 350may be any media asset such as a television program, a video asset,audio asset, multimedia asset, pay-per-view media asset, on-demand mediaasset, streaming media asset, website, page of an e-book, or any othercontent suitable for display on a display screen of the user computerequipment.

Processing circuitry 206 may receive a user request to access aparticular website through address bar 340 and in response may navigatethe user to the website and display a web page as main screen content350. In some implementations, the user may enter using user inputinterface 210, as the address in address bar 340, the Internet address(e.g., website URL or IP address) of the computer that hosts theinteractive video gaming environment (e.g., OPP 113).

In some embodiments, widget display 312 may be displayed simultaneouslywith main screen content 350. Widget display 312 may occupy a largerportion of the screen than main screen content 350, a smaller portion,or an equal portion as main screen content 350. Processing circuitry 206may receive a user input to interchange main screen content 350 withwidget display 312. In response to the user input, processing circuitry206 may display widget 312 in the position where main screen content 350was on the screen and main screen content 350 in the position on thescreen where widget 312 was displayed.

In some implementations, widget display 312 may be displayed in fullscreen view when processing circuitry 206 receives a user command todisplay the interactive video gaming environment on the full screen ofthe user computer equipment. In some implementations, display 300Bprovided on user computer equipment may have all of the same or similarfunctionality as display 300A provided on user equipment device 200(e.g., a user television equipment).

FIG. 3C shows an illustrative display screen 300C of an interactivevideo gaming environment running on mobile phone equipment (e.g.,iPhone, iPad, Droid, cellular telephone, mobile IP telephone, satellitetelephone, etc.). Display screen 300C may be provided by display 212 andmay include a widget display 314 that provides access to the interactivevideo gaming environment. Widget display 314 may include any of thescreens of the interactive video gaming environment that the widget maygenerate such as the screens shown and described in connection withFIGS. 4-8. Mobile phone equipment may execute or run widget 105 togenerate widget display 314 while continuing to run backend orforeground tasks necessary to operate a mobile telephone (e.g.,communications with towers and handling, placing and receiving phonecalls).

Screen 300C may include a status bar 362. Status bar 362 may includevarious indicators that inform the user about the status of the mobilephone equipment. In particular, status bar 362 may include a GCommnetwork reception indicator 364, wireless data communications networkreception indicator 368 and voice communications network receptionindicator 366. Other indicators (not shown) may also be included instatus bar 362 such as new message indicator (e.g., e-mail message,voicemail message, MMS message, or SMS message, etc.), WiFi receptionindicator, battery power indicator, number of current applicationsrunning/suspended, or other suitable indicator. Mobile phone equipmentmay be equipped with a specialized communications interface (referred toas GComm—gaming communications) that is configured to handle datacommunications between only widget 104 and interactive video gamingenvironment. GComm indicator 364 may indicate independently of thecellular communications indicators (e.g., 3G, 4G and voicecommunications) the reception of the GComm communications interface.

Processing circuitry 206 may process incoming phone calls and alert theuser using prompt 360 about an incoming phone call. Prompt 360 mayindicate who the call is being received from (e.g., by name, picture,video, audio, IP address or phone number or any combination thereof).Prompt 360 may be displayed as an overlay on top of widget display 314so as to not interrupt the game play of the player in the interactivevideo gaming environment. The user may instruct processing circuitry 206to ignore or accept the call. If the user instructs processing circuitry206 to accept the call, processing circuitry 206 may suspend executionof widget 105 and minimize widget display 314 and allow the user tohandle the call. If the user instructs processing circuitry 206 toignore the call, processing circuitry 206 may route the call tovoicemail and remove prompt 360 from the display.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention in the realm of a particularinteractive video gaming environment is described below in connectionwith FIGS. 4-6. In particular, FIGS. 4-6 describe the invention in therealm of a “Be A Singing Idol” interactive video game (which may bereferred to as “the idol game”). In this interactive video game, aplayer action includes submission of one or more media assets where theplayer sings or performs some musical piece or act and users respond byproviding reward and penalty videos based on whether the users liked ordisliked (enjoyed or did not enjoy) the player's action. In particular,a player creates an action and submits the action to a remote server.The remote server makes the action available to other users of the gamefor ranking that indicates whether the other users liked or disliked theaction. After receiving ranks from the other users, the remote servermay determine whether the ranks correspond to a reward or a penalty.Based on that determination, the remote server may select a media asset(e.g., a video) that is categorized as a reward or a penalty and providethe media asset for the player.

Although the invention is described in the context of the idol game, theinvention may be implemented in any other type of interactive videogaming environment (e.g., a racing video game, a sporting event videogame such as a golf or football game, a strategy based video game, gamesregarding any hobby or interest such as bird watching or exotic dancing,adventure role-playing game, etc.).

For example, in a racing video game, the player action may be aparticular design of a course map, movement of a car (e.g., making a carspin in place), or completion of a course map and the users may respondby providing reward and penalty videos based on whether the users likedor disliked (enjoyed or did not enjoy) the player's action. Similarly,in a sporting event video game the player action may be a particularteam strategy created by the player during the course of the game; andin a game regarding a hobby such as bird watching, the player action maybe a video or image the player creates of a particular kind of birdwhich users may respond to by providing reward and penalty videos basedon whether they liked or disliked (enjoyed or did not enjoy) of theplayer's action.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative interactive video gaming environment display400 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In particular,FIG. 4 is an illustrative display of a “Be A Singing Idol” interactivevideo game. Display 400 may be the initial (or first) navigation screenpresented to the user (or player) after the user (or player) starts upthe interactive video gaming environment. This initial navigation screenmay be referred to as the “home screen” of the interactive video gamingenvironment. The home screen may allow the user to select options toinstruct processing circuitry 206 to navigate the user or access variousfeatures of the interactive video gaming environment.

Display 400 includes an action selection region 410, a previouslyreceived rewards/penalties media region 420, options selection region450 and game status region 451. Although each of the regions is shown ina single display 400, these regions may be broken up into one or moreseparate displays to accommodate different sized screens on differentdevices. For example, action selection region 410 may be displayed onone navigation screen of the interactive video game and an option tonavigate to one of the other regions (e.g., the options selection region450, previously received rewards/penalties media region 420, and/or anadvertisement region) displayed on a separate screen may be providedwith the action selection region 410. Processing circuitry 206 maynavigate the user to a screen corresponding to any one of the otherregions based on the option selected by the user through a currentnavigation screen.

An advertisement 440 may be displayed in any navigation screen of theinteractive video game. Advertisement 440 may be received fromadvertisement server 122. Advertisement 440 may inform the player oruser about upcoming products and any available upgrades to theinteractive video game. Advertisement 440 may be interactive. Processingcircuitry 206 may receive a user selection of advertisement 440 and mayin response allow the user to purchase the product being advertised. Insome implementations, processing circuitry 206 may receive a userselection of advertisement 440 and may in response display additionalinformation for the content or product being advertised or navigate theplayer or user to a website or navigation page corresponding toadvertisement 440.

A chat option 442 may be presented in any one of the navigation screensof the interactive video game. In response to receiving a user or playerselection of chat option 442, processing circuitry 206 may provide theuser with access to a chat room navigation page. In the chat roomnavigation page, the user or player may communicate with other users orplayers of the interactive video game. In some implementations, if auser or player knows the username or identity of another user or player,the user or player may input information that identifies the other useror player and processing circuitry 206 may allow the users tocommunicate directly with each other.

An exit option 474 may be presented in any one of the navigation screensof the interactive video game. In response to receiving a user or playerselection of exit option 474, processing circuitry 206 may save anyinformation or actions created by the player or user and shut down theinteractive video game. In some implementations, processing circuitry206 may transmit a communication to service provider 102 informingservice provider 102 that the user or player is leaving the interactivevideo game. Service provider 102 may use this information to save anyinformation associated with the user or player and prevent communicationfrom any other user or player to the user or player that left. Serviceprovider 102 may save any such communication requests for informing theuser or player upon their return to the interactive video game.

In some embodiments, action selection region 410 may allow the player togenerate a new action in the interactive video game. For example, in theidol game, the player may generate (or create) the action as a mediasegment (video, graphic, image, or audio segment) of the playerperforming (e.g., singing, acting, speaking, or carrying out any form ofbehavior). The media segment may be of any unlimited length and sizebut, in some implementations, may be limited by the interactive videogaming environment to a predetermined length or size (e.g., less than 5minutes long or less than 5 megabytes). In some implementations, thelength or size of the media segment may be limited based on the type ofmedia used to create the segment (e.g., less than 5 minutes for a videosegment and less than 10 minutes for an audio segment).

For example, processing circuitry 206 may receive a player selection ofcreate option 415. In response to receiving the player selection,processing circuitry 206 may navigate the player to a display thatallows the player to create media segment. In particular, processingcircuitry 206 may present options for the user asking the player whattype of media segment the player would like to create. For example,processing circuitry 206 may present the player with options to create avideo, audio, graphic, or any combination thereof. Based on the playerselection of the option, processing circuitry 206 may activate theappropriate or necessary input circuitry (e.g., camera 204, user inputinterface 210, microphone, etc.). Processing circuitry 206 may record(store) the media segment created by the user upon receipt of a playerindication that the creation of the segment is complete.

In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may store the mediasegment locally in storage 208 of user equipment device 200. In someimplementations, processing circuitry 206 may upload and transmit thecreated media segment to player action server 116 for storage remotefrom user equipment device 200. Player action server 116 may store anidentifier with the received media segment that identifies the player oruser equipment device 200 associated with the stored media segment. Insome implementations, each player may be allocated a predeterminedamount of storage space on player action server 116 which may be usedfor storing player actions (e.g., media segments created by the player)and any other information pertaining to the interactive video game.

In some embodiments, the action created by the player may be selectedfor submission or training as part of the interactive video game. Forexample, action selection region 410 may allow the user to select apreviously generated action. Action selection region 410 may include alist of previously generated actions. The list of previously generatedactions may include any number of previously generated actionsconstrained only by the size of display 212. In some implementations,the list may identify each previously generated action by title or anyother unique identifier (assigned by the user or automatically generatedby user equipment device 200) associated with a given action.

Using a scroll bar 418 displayed in action selection region 410, theplayer may instruct processing circuitry 206 to display other actionsthat did not fit in action selection region 410. Scroll bar 418 may bescrolled up or down to show the previous and subsequent previouslystored actions, respectively. Processing circuitry 206 may sort anddisplay the previously generated actions in action selection region 410in an order based on creation date, access date, popularity, size,quality, rank (resulting from being submitted or manually assigned bythe player), an alphabetical order of titles, or any other suitablecriteria. For example, processing circuitry 206 may display the listingsof the previously generated actions in sequence from earliest createdaction to latest created action. Similarly, processing circuitry 206 maydisplay the listings of the previously generated actions in sequencefrom highest ranked action to lowest ranked action, where an action thathas no rank may be assigned, for sorting, a highest rank so that it ismost visible to the player. Processing circuitry 206 may display a sortmenu (not shown) in action selection region 410 which the player use toinstruct processing circuitry 206 on how to order the listings of thepreviously generated actions.

In some implementations, each previously generated action may be listedusing an image or unique identifier associated with the previouslygenerated action. For example, when the previously generated action is avideo segment, a random frame 412 of the video segment (or a frameselected by the user) may be shown within action selection region 410.In some implementations, the previously generated action may be agraphic or an image, and in these circumstances, a thumbnail of thepreviously generated graphic or image may be depicted on the displaywithin action selection region 410. In some implementations, thepreviously generated action may be an audio segment, and in thesecircumstances, audio playback options 414 with a title of the previouslygenerated action may be shown within action selection region 410.

In some embodiments, the player may select, click on, or highlight anarea corresponding to where a listing of the action is displayed. Inresponse to receiving the player input (selecting, clicking on, orhighlighting), processing circuitry 206 may playback the action wherethe corresponding listing of the action is shown. For example, when theplayer selects, clicks on, or highlights frame 412 that corresponds to avideo 1 video segment action, processing circuitry 206 may beginplayback from the start or other position of the video within the samewindow in which the frame is shown. Alternatively, processing circuitry206 may retrieve the corresponding video of frame 412 and display alarger size window as an overlay on display 400 for playback of thevideo segment. Similarly, when the player selects, clicks on, orhighlights audio playback options 414 that corresponds to an audiosegment action, processing circuitry 206 may begin playback from thestart or other position of the audio segment. The player may pause andstop playback of the audio segment action using audio playback options414.

The listings of actions displayed in action selection region 410 maycorrespond to any locally or remotely stored action (e.g., mediasegment) of the player. In some implementations, processing circuitry206 may receive a selection of a browse stored option 413. Browse storedoption 413 may be selected by the player when the player does not see alisting for an action which was previously created by the player orsomeone else. For example, an action may have been created on adifferent user equipment device 200 on another occasion which may nothave been synchronized with the information about the previouslygenerated actions stored on user equipment device 200 currently beingused by the player. For example, the player may be accessing theinteractive video game using a portable device and the listings of theactions may be those that are known to the portable device. The playermay have generated an action using a television equipment device whichmay not have been transferred into storage of the portable device.Accordingly, in response to receiving the player selection of browsestored option 413, processing circuitry 206 may display a menu throughwhich the player may locate actions stored in other devices or locations(e.g., the television equipment device or a portable storage device suchas a USB key). Processing circuitry 206 may add a listing for the actionretrieved from the browsed location (e.g., the portable storage device)for the player to select for inclusion in the game.

Action selection region 410 may include a selection element 416 (e.g., acheckbox) next to or associated with each displayed action listing.Processing circuitry 206 may receive input from the player selecting oneor more actions using each corresponding selection element 416. Theactions corresponding to the listings which are selected by the playerusing, for example, selection element 416 may be submitted to playeraction server 116 for ranking by users of the interactive video gamingenvironment. Alternatively, the actions corresponding to the listingswhich are selected by the player using, for example, selection element416 may be submitted for training. Processing circuitry 206 maydetermine whether to submit the selected actions for ranking or trainingbased on whether the user selects submit option 472 or train option 470,respectively. In particular, selection of submit option 472 instructsprocessing circuitry 206 to enter “game” mode and selection of trainoption 470 instructs processing circuitry 206 to enter “training” mode.

In training mode, processing circuitry 206 may evaluate each of theselected actions. Processing circuitry 206 may apply a heuristic toautomatically assign a rank to each of the selected actions. Forexample, when one of the selected actions is an audio segment,processing circuitry 206 may analyze the sound profile (e.g., frequency,amplitude, rhythm, harmony (harmonic function), melody, structure, form,timbre, texture, or other sound characteristic of the audio segment) ofthe audio segment to determine whether it meets a predetermined soundprofile. In particular, a plurality of predetermined sound profiles maybe stored in storage 208. Each of the predetermined sound profiles maycorrespond to a particular rank. Processing circuitry 206 may comparethe sound profile of the selected action to the predetermined soundprofiles to automatically assign a rank to the selected action.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 206 may display the rankassigned to each of the selected actions and provide feedback to theuser to instruct the user how to reach a higher rank. For example,processing circuitry 206 may include a description for each of theselected actions that have been evaluated informing the player what tochange that would resemble the next higher ranked predetermined soundprofile. In particular, processing circuitry 206 may inform the playerabout what location or locations had an inconsistent tone or frequencyrelative to the majority of the tone or frequency in selected audiosegment action. A similar analysis and automatic ranking may beperformed for each type of action (e.g., video segment, image orgraphic).

In game mode, processing circuitry 206 may transmit each of the selectedactions to player action server 116. Processing circuitry 206 maycommunicate and instruction to player action server 116 that thetransmitted actions are part of game play in the idol game orinteractive video game and are not just for remote storage, as discussedabove. Based on the received action and instructions, player actionserver 116 may make the received actions available to other users of theidol game for ranking. In particular, other users of the idol game mayindicate whether they liked or disliked the action submitted by theplayer by, for example, providing a numerical ranking. In someimplementations, the ranking provided by the users may be based oncharacter type, alphabet or any other type of indication that allowsplayer action server 116 to determine whether the users liked ordisliked the action. The reward or penalty media asset may be generatedby another one of the users of the interactive video game. A discussionof how player action server 116 selects a reward or penalty media asset(e.g., a video segment, audio segment, image or graphic) based on therank assigned to the action for provision to the player (e.g., fordisplay to the player or storage on user equipment device 200 of theplayer) is provided below in connection with FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, player action server 116 may determine whether theplayer is authorized to have the action ranked by other users of theinteractive video game before making the action available to the otherusers for ranking. In some implementations, player action server 116 maydetermine that the user is authorized based on a level of the playerwithin the interactive video game. For example, a player that is in ahigher level of the interactive video game may be authorized to have agreater number of actions ranked in a given period than a lower level ofthe same game. Player action server 116 may determine whether the userhas reached the maximum number of actions submitted in game mode for thelevel of the interactive video game to determine whether the user isauthorized to have another action made available for ranking.

In some implementations, player action server may determine that theuser is authorized based on a predetermined number of other playeractions the player has previously ranked. For example, a player that hasranked a predetermined number of other player actions may be authorizedto submit a predefined number of player actions. There may be aone-to-one correspondence between the number of player actions rankedand the number of actions the player may submit in game mode.Alternatively, the player may be required to rank 10 other playeractions before being authorized to submit a single action in game mode.

In some embodiments, game status region 451 may include information thatindicates to the user a position within the interactive video game andwhether the player is authorized to submit an action in game mode. Gamestatus region 451 may include a total rank indicator 452 which mayindicate to the player the player's rank within the interactive videogame. The total rank may be computed based on an average of the ranksreceived for actions previously submitted and ranked in game mode. Thetotal rank may or may not include in the average the ranks automaticallydetermined in training mode. Game status region 451 may include a totalprior submissions indicator 454 which indicates to the player the totalnumber of actions that the player has submitted in game mode. Actionssubmitted during training mode may not be included in this indicator.Game status region 451 may include a total submissions remainingindicator 456 which indicates to the user the total number of actionsthat the player is authorized to submit in game mode that remain. Asdiscussed above and below, the number provided by indicator 456 maydepend on the level of the player in the game, the number of otherplayer actions the player has ranked or any other suitable factor. Gamestatus region 451 may include a level indicator 458 which indicates tothe player the level in the interactive video game that the player isin.

In some embodiments, the level may increase as the player's performanceimproves within the interactive video game. For example, after theplayer receives a number of ranks that exceed a predetermined valueconsistently over a given period (e.g., 1 week), the level of the playerin the game may increase. Higher levels in the interactive video gamemay authorize the player to submit more actions for game play. In someimplementations, an action submitted by a player in game mode thatachieves a given level in the idol game (e.g., level 5 of 8) may be madeavailable exclusively to a group of members for ranking. For example,the action submitted by a player that achieves a given level in the idolgame may be made available to professional music artists or expertjudges that can provide a more accurate rank for the action. In someimplementations, an action submitted by a player in training mode thatachieves a given level in the idol game (e.g., level 5 of 8) may beautomatically ranked by user equipment device 200 using stricterstandards or using a more advanced or complex set of predetermined soundprofiles.

In some embodiments, when the player is not authorized (e.g., becausethe maximum number of actions that the player can submit in game modehas been reached), the player may be presented with a set of options tobecome authorized. A buy more option 460 and a rank others option 462may be presented to the unauthorized player. Processing circuitry 206may receive a player selection of buy more option 460 and in responsemay allow the user to purchase the authorization to submit a givennumber of actions. For example, the player may pay service provider 102ten dollars for the authorization to submit 20 actions in game mode.Processing circuitry 206 may receive a player selection of rank othersoption 462 and in response may navigate the player to a screen where theplayer ranks other player actions to receive authorization to submit agiven number of actions in game mode. An exemplary navigation screenthat includes a rank others region 510 that allows the player to rankother player actions is discussed in connection with FIG. 5 below. Inparticular, a discussion of how a player or other users of the idol game(users of the interactive video gaming environment) rank the actionsmade available by player action server 116 is provided in connectionwith FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, once player action server 116 determines the playeris authorized, player action server 116 may automatically rank theaction. For example, player action server 116 may determine whether thereceived action matches a correct action in game play of the interactivevideo game. Player action server 116 may assign a high valued rank tothe action when the received action matches a correct action. Playeraction server 116 may assign a low valued rank to the action when thereceived action matches an incorrect action. In particular, the actionreceived from the player may be a particular move in a game or responseto an inquiry in the game. Player action server 116 may evaluate theaction to determine whether the move in the game or response to theinquiry is correct or incorrect. Player action server 116 may performthis determination by maintaining a database of expected actions orresponses associated with a level or position or inquiry of theinteractive video game. The discussion above and below for providingmedia assets as rewards or penalties based on a rank assigned to aplayer action is applicable to automatically assigned ranks or ranksassigned by other users of the interactive video game (discussed below).

In some embodiments, once player action server 116 determines the playeris authorized, player action server 116 may make the action available toother users for ranking. For example, player action server 116 maypublish the action on a website and allow other users to view the actionand provide a rank for the action. In particular, other users maynavigate to a page of the website that allows them to rank playeractions. The page may resemble rank others region 510 of FIG. 5. Rankothers region 510 may include a number of actions 514 each with acorresponding rank options menu 512. In some implementations, actions514 may be listed in a same or similar manner as the actions listed inaction selection region 410 (FIG. 4). By default, the listed actions 514may include a mix of action media types (e.g., video actions, audioactions, graphics, or images).

In some implementations, the user may select an option 516 to causeprocessing circuitry 206 or player action server 116 to only displayactions in region 510 of a certain media type (e.g., only display videoactions). In some implementations, the user may select an option 517 tocause processing circuitry 206 or player action server 116 to onlydisplay actions in region 510 that include certain simple andcombination categories of content (e.g., only display comedy actions,drama actions, violence actions, explicit actions, action type actions,any other content category action or combination thereof).

In some embodiments, the actions listed in region 510 may be randomly orpseudorandomly selected by player action server 116 for the user to viewand rank. In some implementations, player action server 116 may discardor prevent actions that have already been accessed (viewed) orsubstantially accessed (viewed) by the user from being listed in region510. This way the user that is ranking actions may always be presentedwith new actions to rank and will not provide a rank on multipleoccasions for the same action. In some implementations, player actionserver 116 may maintain a profile for each user of the interactive videogame and select the actions that are provided to a given user forranking based on the profile of the user.

In some embodiments, the user may select one of the displayed actionslisted in region 510 for playback. Selection may be performed byhighlighting an area corresponding to the action listed (e.g., using acursor), clicking on the listed action, providing verbal commands, or byany other way using user input interface 210. Processing circuitry 206may play back, in response to receiving the selection of the listedaction, the video or audio of the selected action.

In some embodiments, rank options menu 512 for a given action 514 thatis listed may only be enabled or displayed after the user has completelyor substantially completely viewed or accessed the displayed action. Forexample, processing circuitry 206 may monitor whether the selectedaction has been played back in its entirety or substantially in itsentirety (e.g., more than 80 percent) for the user. In response todetermining that the action has been played back in its entirety orsubstantially in its entirety, processing circuitry 206 may enable ordisplay rank options menu 512 to allow the user to submit a ranking forthe selected action. The user may select a rank from a range of, forexample, one to ten, where one means the user disliked the action andten means the user liked the action. In some implementations, instead ofproviding a range of ranks in menu 512, menu 512 may simply include twooptions (liked or disliked) for the user to select.

Player action server 116 may store the rank assigned by each user forthe given action. After a predetermined number of users ranked the givenaction (e.g., over 100 users ranked the action), player action server116 may compute an overall rank for the action. In some implementations,player action server 116 may compute the overall rank by computing anaverage of all the ranks assigned by the users. In some implementations,instead of waiting for the predetermined number of users to rank theaction, player action server 116 may continuously compute an average ofthe ranks after each rank is assigned by a user.

In some embodiments, after a predetermined number of users ranked thegiven action (e.g., over 100 users ranked the action), player actionserver 116 may determine whether the rank of the action corresponds to areward or a penalty. In particular, player action server 116 maydetermine that the rank corresponds to a reward when the rank exceeds apredetermined threshold and otherwise corresponds to a penalty. In someimplementations, player action server 116 may determine that the rankcorresponds to a reward when a majority of the users that ranked theaction liked the action (e.g., assigned a rank above 6 out of 10).Similarly, player action server 116 may determine that the rankcorresponds to a penalty when a majority of the users that ranked theaction disliked the action (e.g., assigned a rank below 5 out of 10).

After determining whether the rank of the action corresponds to apenalty or reward, player action server 116 may retrieve a video ormedia asset from video asset server 114 that is categorized as a rewardor penalty based on whether the action rank corresponds to a reward orpenalty. For example, the rank corresponding to the submitted action maybe determined to correspond to a reward. Accordingly, player actionserver 116 may be instructed to retrieve a media asset (e.g., a video)from video asset server 114 that is categorized as a reward. When therank corresponding to the submitted action is determined to correspondto a penalty, player action server 116 may be instructed to retrieve amedia asset (e.g., a video) from video asset server 114 that iscategorized as a penalty. A detailed discussion of how media assets aregenerated, stored and categorized as reward or penalty media assets invideo asset server 114 is provided below in connection with FIG. 6.

In some implementations, player action server 116 may retrieve a mediaasset from video asset server 114 by providing an instruction to videoasset server 114. The instruction provided to video asset server mayinclude information that identifies the player who submitted the action,includes a user profile of the player, includes a ranking associatedwith the action, indicates whether to retrieve a reward or penalty mediaasset, indicates what level within the interactive video game the playeris in, indicates an authorization level associated with the player,and/or any combination thereof or other suitable data. Video assetserver 114 may have stored a plurality of media assets that arecategorized as reward or penalty media assets. Video asset server 114may retrieve one of the stored media assets based on the instructionreceived from player action server 114. Video asset server 114 maytransmit or provide the retrieved media asset to player action server116 for provision to the player.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward orpenalty video that is of a certain measure of quality based on the levelwithin the interactive video game the player is indicated to be in theinstruction received from player action server 116. The measure ofquality may include popularity of the content of the media asset (e.g.,popularity of a celebrity in the media asset, where the measure ofquality is greater for celebrities that are more popular). The measureof quality may include picture resolution, length of the videos,popularity the media asset among a community of users, content qualityof the media asset, originality of the media asset, rarity of the mediaasset, and/or any other suitable value that is attributed to the mediaasset that can be used to determine whether one media asset is “better”or more valuable than another media asset.

In some implementations, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward orpenalty media asset having a greater measure of quality for higherlevels in the interactive video game. For example, video asset server114 may retrieve a reward or penalty media asset with low imageresolution (e.g., 320×240 pixel resolution for still images or 0.25megabits per second for videos) when the player is indicated to be inthe first few levels of the interactive video game. Alternatively, videoasset server 114 may retrieve a reward or penalty media asset with highimage resolution (e.g., 1280×800 pixel resolution for still images or1.25 megabits per second for videos) when the player is indicated to bein the last few levels of the interactive video game. In someimplementations, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward or penaltymedia asset created by an unknown person (e.g., another user of thegame) or that has poor or undesirable content when the player isindicated to be in the first few levels of the interactive video game.Alternatively, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward or penaltymedia asset created by a celebrity (e.g., Michael Jackson) or that hasgood or very desirable content when the player is indicated to be in thelast few levels of the interactive video game. A similar selection ofmedia assets having particular measures of quality may be performed forany other type of measure of quality discussed above. Increasing thequality of media assets at higher levels may encourage the player to tryharder to reach higher levels to attain access to higher quality mediaassets.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may determine that theplayer is in the last few levels of the interactive video game and thata high quality reward or penalty media asset needs to be retrieved basedon that level. Even though a high quality reward or penalty media assetis determined to be needed for retrieval, video asset server 114 mayrandomly select a low quality reward or penalty media asset forretrieval and transmission to the player. Displaying a low qualityreward or penalty media asset to a player that has earned (e.g., becauseof the level in the video game) a high quality reward or penalty mediaasset may remind the player about the quality of the media assets inlower levels and discourage the player from performing poorly (e.g.,having actions ranked low). Video asset server 114 may determine whetherto provide low quality media assets when high quality media assets areearned in a random or pseudorandom manner. Similarly, video asset server114 may determine that the player is in the first few levels of theinteractive video game and that a low quality reward or penalty mediaasset needs to be retrieved based on that level. Even though a lowquality reward or penalty media asset is determined to be needed forretrieval, video asset server 114 may randomly select a high qualityreward or penalty media asset for retrieval and transmission to theplayer. Displaying a high quality reward or penalty media asset to aplayer that has earned (e.g., because of the level in the video game) alow quality reward or penalty media asset may tease the player andencourage the player to perform better. In particular, displaying a highquality reward or penalty media asset to a player that has earned a lowquality media asset may incentivize the player to achieve higher levelsin the video game where higher quality media assets are usuallyprovided.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward orpenalty video that are of a certain measure of quality based on the rankassociated with the action submitted by the player indicated in theinstruction received from player action server 116. For example, videoasset server 114 may retrieve a reward or penalty media asset having agreater measure of quality for higher ranks associated with the action.For example, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward or penaltymedia asset with low image resolution (e.g., 320×240 pixel resolutionfor still images or 0.25 megabits per second for videos) when the rankis low (e.g., less than 5 out of 10). Alternatively, video asset server114 may retrieve a reward or penalty media asset with high imageresolution (e.g., 1280×800 pixel resolution for still images or 1.25megabits per second for videos) when the rank is high (e.g., 5 out of 10or higher). In some implementations, video asset server 114 may retrievea reward or penalty media asset created by an unknown person (e.g.,another user of the game) when the rank is low (e.g., less than 5 out of10). Alternatively, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward orpenalty media asset created by a celebrity (e.g., Michael Jackson) whenthe rank is high (e.g., 5 out of 10 or higher).

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward orpenalty video that is of a certain measure of quality based on the typeor package of the interactive video game that the player is using (orhas purchased) indicated in the instruction received from player actionserver 116. For example, video asset server 114 may retrieve a reward orpenalty media asset having a greater measure of quality for a playerthat has purchased or is using an upgraded version of the interactivevideo game. In some implementations, purchasing the upgrade to theinteractive video game may prevent advertisements from being displayedin some or all portions of the interactive video game for the player.The player may use an upgraded version of the interactive video game byproviding payment to service provider 102 and downloading the upgrade.In some implementations, the player may only be provided with an optionto upgrade to a different version after the player reaches a certainlevel in the interactive video game. In particular, some upgradepackages may only become available once a player has reached apredetermined level or levels in the interactive video game.

In some implementations, service provider 102 may indicate the versionand whether it has been upgraded by the player by storing the indicationin the user profile associated with the player. Video asset server 114may retrieve a reward or penalty media asset with low image resolution(e.g., 320×240 pixel resolution for still images or 0.25 megabits persecond for videos) when the player is using an interactive video gamewithout the upgrade. Alternatively, video asset server 114 may retrievea reward or penalty media asset with high image resolution (e.g.,1280×800 pixel resolution for still images or 1.25 megabits per secondfor videos) when the player is using an interactive video game with theupgrade. In some implementations, video asset server 114 may retrieve areward or penalty media asset created by an unknown person (e.g.,another user of the game) when the player is using an interactive videogame without the upgrade. Alternatively, video asset server 114 mayretrieve a reward or penalty media asset created by a celebrity (e.g.,Michael Jackson) when the player is using an interactive video game withthe upgrade.

In some implementations, video asset server 114 may use the informationthat identifies the player who submitted the action to determine whethera media asset has previously been provided to the player. In particular,after video asset server 114 selects a media asset for retrieval andprovision to the player, video asset server 114 may determine whetherthat retrieved media asset has previously been provided to the player.Video asset server 114 may store with each media asset, an identifier ofeach player to whom the media asset has been provided. After selecting amedia asset for provision to the player, video asset server 114 may usethe information that identifies the player included in the instructionreceived from player action server 116 to determine whether the selectedmedia asset has previously been provided to the player. When video assetserver 114 determines that the media asset has previously been providedto the player, video asset server 114 may select an alternate reward orpenalty media asset having the same quality as the previously selectedmedia asset. For example, video asset server 114 may select a penaltymedia asset having a low measure of quality (e.g., having a 320×240pixel resolution for still images or 0.25 megabits per second forvideos) and determine that the media asset has previously been providedto the player. In response, video asset server 114 may select analternate penalty media asset having the same measure of quality (e.g.,having a 320×240 pixel resolution for still images or 0.25 megabits persecond for videos) and provide the alternate media asset to playeraction server 116 for provision to the player instead.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may use settings in the userprofile contained in the instruction received from player action server116 to retrieve a reward or penalty media asset. In particular, videoasset server 114 may identify programming (e.g., television programs)that the player enjoys watching using the user profile associated withthe player. For example, video asset server 114 may identify that theplayer enjoys watching episodes of the show “Lost.” Video asset server114 may retrieve a reward or penalty media asset that includes contentfrom the show “Lost” for provision to the player. In particular, videoasset server 114 may select a clip (a short segment) of a future episodeof the show “Lost” that has not been made publicly available as a rewardmedia asset. Similarly, video asset server 114 may select a media assetclip (a short video or audio segment) of a past episode of the show“Lost” that has not been made publicly available as a penalty mediaasset. Alternatively, video asset server 114 may select a media assetclip (a short video or audio segment) of an episode (future or past) ofprogramming (e.g., the show “Friends”) that the player dislikes based onthe user profile as a penalty media asset.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may use settings in the userprofile contained in the instruction received from player action server116 and the indication of whether to retrieve a reward or penalty mediaasset contained in the instruction received from player action server116 to retrieve a reward or penalty media asset segment that is part ofa series of segments of a media asset. In particular, video asset server114 may store a media asset that is broken up in multiple sequentiallycontinuous segments (e.g., a series that includes 3 segments of themedia asset). For example, video asset server 114 may receive a videothat is 6 minutes in length and may divide the video into 3 equal 2minute segments. The segments when played back together make up theentire video. The user profile may include information that indicateswhich series of segments of a media asset the player has previouslyseen. Video asset server 114 may use the information in the user profileto determine the position within the media asset up to which the playerhas accessed. Based on the determination and when the instructionindicates the need for a reward media asset, video asset server 114 mayretrieve the segment in the series of segments of the media asset andtransmit or provide the retrieved segment to player action server 116for provision to the player as a reward. Similarly, based on thedetermination and when the instruction indicates the need for a penaltymedia asset, video asset server 114 may retrieve any one of thepreviously submitted segments in the series of segments of the mediaasset (or a segment of a different media asset series) and transmit orprovide the retrieved segment to player action server 116 for provisionto the player as a penalty.

The video asset that is retrieved from video asset server 114 may beprovided to the player who submitted the action for ranking as a rewardor penalty either for immediate consumption (viewing or access) (e.g.,in real-time or as a live feed) or after performing further processingusing media processing server 118. In some implementations, playeraction server 116 may establish a peer-to-peer connection between userequipment device 200 of the player and user equipment device 200 of theuser who submitted the media asset to be provided to the player as areward or penalty. Accordingly, the player may be provided with themedia asset as a reward or penalty directly from user equipment device200 of the user who created the media asset.

In some embodiments, media processing server 118 may embed or associatean advertisement from advertisement server 122 into the media asset thatis provided to the player as the reward or penalty. The advertisementmay be a media asset that includes video, audio, images, or anycombination thereof. For example, media processing server 118 may selecta suitable advertisement from advertisement server 122 and combine theadvertisement with the media asset. In particular, the advertisement maybe combined with the media asset by being integrated as an overlayduring some portion of the media asset (in the case where the mediaasset is a video). In some implementations, the advertisement may becombined with the media asset by being appended to the end, beginning,or some middle portion of the media asset so that when the playeraccessed the media asset, the player is exposed to the advertisement. Insome implementations, the advertisement may be selected based on thecontent of the media asset and type of the media asset.

In some embodiments, media processing server 118 may determine whatlevel of the interactive video game the player is in before selectingthe advertisement for inclusion in the media asset. For example, mediaprocessing server 118 may determine that the player is in level 8 out of10 in the interactive video game. Media processing server 118 maydetermine that no advertisements are provided to players in level 8.Accordingly, media processing server 118 may not incorporate theadvertisement into the media asset and may transmit the media assetwithout the advertisement to the player for consumption (access orviewing).

In some embodiments, media processing server 118 may determine that theplayer has paid for an access rights to avoid advertisements in theinteractive video game. Media processing server 118 may determine thatno advertisements are provided to players with such access rights.Accordingly, media processing server 118 may not incorporate theadvertisement into the media asset and may transmit the media assetwithout the advertisement to the player for consumption (access orviewing).

In some embodiments, media processing server 118 may determine the rankassociated with the action for which the media asset has been selectedand base the advertisement selection on the determined rank. In someimplementations, media processing server 118 may determine that noadvertisements are provided to players when the rank associated with theaction exceeds a predetermined threshold (e.g., the rank is greater than6 out of 10). Accordingly, media processing server 118 may notincorporate the advertisement into the media asset and may transmit themedia asset without the advertisement to the player for consumption(access or viewing). In some implementations, media processing server118 may select advertisements of a given length based on the rankassociated with the action. For example, media processing server 118 mayselect longer advertisements for actions that are associated with lowerranks and select shorter or no advertisements for actions that areassociated with higher ranks. In some implementations, media processingserver 118 may avoid incorporating any advertisements into the mediaasset (exclude advertisements) when the action is associated with amaximum rank.

In some implementations, media processing server 118 may maintain adatabase for the interactive gaming environment that includes entriesthat indicate whether to provide an advertisement with the media assetbased on a rank. For example, the rank associated with the media assetsmay range from a value of one to a value of 10. The database mayassociate less than all of the possible of rank values (e.g., ranksvalued from 0 through 6) each with a different advertisementcharacteristic (e.g., content type, length, value). The database mayassociate some of the possible rank values (e.g., only the highest rankvalue) with an indication that no advertisement is to be provided. Mediaprocessing server 118 may determine the rank associated with the actionand further determine whether to incorporate an advertisement with themedia asset provided as the reward or penalty based on the database. Inparticular, media processing server 118 may cross-reference the receivedaction with one of the entries in the database to identify the rank thatcorresponds to the received action and which advertisementcharacteristic is associated with the identified rank. Media processingserver 118 may use the advertisement characteristic associated with therank to select an advertisement (e.g., a longer advertisement for lowerranks or a shorter advertisement for higher ranks) for incorporationwith the media asset provided as the reward or penalty for the action.Alternatively, media processing server 118 may use the advertisementcharacteristic associated with the rank to determine that noadvertisement should be incorporated with the media asset provided asthe reward or penalty for the action.

Media processing server 118 may provide the media asset that containsthe advertisement or that does not contain the advertisement to playeraction server 116. Player action server 116 may transmit the media assetas the reward or penalty to the player at user equipment device 200.Since there may be some delay from when the player first submits theaction in game play and receives a media asset reward or penalty (e.g.,ranging from a few days to several weeks), player action server 116 mayprovide an indication to the player informing the player when the rewardor penalty media asset is ready or may provide the player with anestimated time of when the media asset reward or penalty will be ready.For example, player action server 116 may transmit a text message ormultimedia message to a mobile device associated with the playerindicating the availability of the reward or penalty media asset. Insome implementations, the message itself may contain the media assetreward or penalty. In some implementations, the message may provide alink for the player to select to access a website or page that containsthe media asset. For example, the player may access a navigation pagethat includes a reward or penalty media asset retrieval region 520 (FIG.5) to view or access the reward or penalty media asset. In someimplementations, the player may visit or access a navigation page thatincludes region 520 to determine whether the media asset reward orpenalty is ready. In some implementations, the home page of theinteractive video game may provide a visual indication informing theuser that a newly available reward or penalty media asset is ready. Theuser may select the visual indication and processing circuitry 206 maynavigate the user to a navigation page that includes region 520. In someimplementations, processing circuitry 206 may continuously monitor thecontents of a navigation page that includes region 520 to automaticallydetermine whether a media asset reward or penalty is available and if soinform the player.

Media asset retrieval region 520 may include a playback display 522 ofthe media asset received from player action server 116. Playback display522 may include any visual indication that is associated with and thatidentifies the media asset to the player. For example, playback display522 may include a listing with a title of the media asset. Processingcircuitry 206 may receive a user selection of the listing and, inresponse, play back the media asset corresponding to the listing withinregion 520 or as a separate navigation screen. The media asset displayedin region 520 may be a video, audio, image, graphic, website, or anyother content corresponding to the media asset received from playeraction server 116.

Media asset retrieval region 520 may include a visual or audibleindication that informs the player whether the media asset in playbackdisplay 522 is a reward or penalty media asset. In some implementations,the indication may be a message, such as “Your Action Earned You aReward” for reward media assets or “Better Luck Next Time” for penaltymedia assets. In some implementations, the indication may include abackdrop or displaying a background in region 520 of a certain color(e.g., Green for reward media assets and Red for penalty media assets).In some implementations, the indication may include verbal messagegenerated by user equipment device 200 stating that the media assetabout to be played back in display 522 is a reward or a penalty mediaasset.

Media asset retrieval region 520 may include a view submitted actionoption 523. View submitted action option 523 may allow the player to bereminded about what action the player submitted that resulted in thereward or penalty media asset displayed in playback display 522. Inparticular, option 523 may be valuable because the amount of delaybetween submitting an action during game play and receiving a reward orpenalty media asset based on that action may be on the order of days orweeks. Processing circuitry 206 may receive a player selection of option523 and in response retrieve from local or remote storage the actionthat was submitted by the player that resulted in the reward or penaltymedia asset displayed in region 520. Processing circuitry 206 maydisplay the retrieved action in region 520 or in a separate navigationscreen.

In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may generate a shortsegment or clip (e.g., 10 seconds out of a 1 minute action) of thepreviously submitted action instead of playing back the entire contentsof the action. In some implementations, region 520 may include a messageidentifying the action that resulted in the reward or penalty mediaasset by a title or unique image of the action. The title or uniqueimage or visual representation may remind the player about the contentsof the previously submitted action (e.g., without selecting option 523).

Media asset retrieval region 520 may include a visual indication 530 ofthe rank assigned to the previously submitted player action thatresulted in the media asset being displayed in region 520. Visualindication 530 may include the overall rank computed by player actionserver 116 (e.g., the average of all the ranks assigned by other usersin the range of 1 to 10). For example, visual indication 530 may be anumber ranging from 1-10 representing whether the users of the gameliked or disliked the action. In some implementations, instead of (or inaddition to) displaying the number corresponding to the rank assigned tothe submitted action as visual indication 530, visual indication 530 mayinclude a statement indicating whether the other users liked or dislikedthe action (e.g., “Users Enjoyed Your Action” or “Users Did Not EnjoyYour Action”).

Media asset retrieval region 520 may include a save option 524, forwardoption 526, and/or discard option 528. In response to receiving a playerselection of save option 524, processing circuitry 206 may store themedia asset displayed in region 520 in storage 208. In someimplementations, processing circuitry 206 may store the media assetdisplayed in region 520 in a storage device of a remote server, such asother servers 120 in addition to or alternatively to storing the mediaasset locally in storage 208. Storing the media asset may allow theplayer to play back the media asset in the future beyond the defaultavailability window which player action server 116 may make the mediaasset available to the player. In some implementations, the media assetmay be stored to a portable device (e.g., an iPad, iPod or other mediaplayer) to enable the player to access the media asset independent ofservice provider 102 (e.g., without accessing the interactive videogame).

Referring back to FIG. 4, the player may browse previously received andstored reward media assets and penalty media assets usingrewards/penalties media region 420. Rewards/penalties media region 420may include a separate region for reward media assets (e.g., at the topof region 420) and a separate region 430 for penalty media assets (e.g.,at the bottom of region 420).

In some implementations, reward and penalty media assets may be mixedtogether and displayed as one region in region 420. In suchcircumstances, processing circuitry 206 may display an option to sort,organize and/or categorize the displayed media assets. For example,processing circuitry 206 may display an option for the player toinstruct processing circuitry 206 to only display reward media assets oronly display penalty media assets in region 420. Similarly, processingcircuitry 206 may display an option for the player to instructprocessing circuitry 206 to only display reward and/or penalty mediaassets that include content of a certain type (e.g., drama, action,comedy, etc.) and/or that are of a certain media type (e.g., video mediaassets, audio media assets, graphics, website, etc.) and/or that are ofa certain quality (e.g., above a certain image resolution or created bya particular source (e.g., a celebrity or user)).

Regions 420 and 430 may include visual identifiers of each reward orpenalty media asset displayed in that region. For example, a rewardmedia asset identifier 426 may be displayed in region 420 and a penaltymedia asset identifier 436 may be displayed in region 430. Identifiersmay include program listings, titles of the respective media assets, animage associated with the media asset or any other unique identifierassociated with the media asset that identifies the media asset to theplayer. In some implementations, the identifier displayed in region 420or 430 may be a picture or image of (or associated with) the user orplayer that created or submitted the reward or penalty media asset.

Processing circuitry 206 may receive a player selection of any one ofthe displayed identifiers 426 and 436 and may retrieve the correspondingmedia asset from local or remote storage. Processing circuitry 206 mayplay back and display the retrieved media asset in region 420 or 430.Alternatively, processing circuitry 206 may play back and display theretrieved media asset in a separate navigation screen. In someimplementations, processing circuitry 206 may navigate the player toscreen 500 and play back and display the retrieved media asset in region520 (FIG. 5).

In response to receiving a player selection of forward option 526,processing circuitry 206 may transmit the media asset to a player oruser specified destination over communications network 130. Thedestination may be a user equipment device 200 associated with anotheruser or player. For example, the player may specify the IP address,e-mail address or other unique information that identifies another user.Processing circuitry 206 may send the media asset to the user based onthe information supplied by the player. Accordingly, players may sharethe media assets they receive with each other. In some implementations,media processing server 118 may add copyright protection information (orother copy or sharing protection) to the media asset before the mediaasset is provided to the player. In such circumstances, processingcircuitry 206 may prevent the display of option 526 and/or prevent thetransfer or transmission of the media asset displayed in region 520 toanother user/player or device based on the copy protection. Similarly,in such circumstances, processing circuitry 206 may prevent the displayof option 524 and/or prevent the media asset displayed in region 520from being locally or remotely stored for later consumption.

In response to receiving a player selection of discard option 528,processing circuitry 206 may delete the media asset displayed in region520 from local storage or from a remote storage location available tothe player. A confirmation prompt may be presented before the mediaasset is discarded to prevent accidental selection of option 528 andthereby removal of media asset 522. The player may be required toprovide further user input confirming the desire to delete the mediaasset presented in region 520 before processing circuitry 206 deletesthe media asset.

In some implementations, region 420 may include an indication 424 of thetotal number of reward media assets that are stored and available forthe player or user to play back or access. In some implementations,region 430 may include an indication 434 of the total number of penaltymedia assets that are stored and available for the player or user toplay back or access. Scroll bars 422 and 432 may be provided anddisplayed in regions 420 and 430, respectively. The player or user mayuse scroll bars 422 and 432 to view indicators or media assets that arestored and available but are not displayed because of limitations of thescreen size.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 206 may organize the penaltyand/or reward media assets in regions 420 and 430 based on any suitablecriteria. For example, processing circuitry 206 may sort the displayedmedia assets in an order based on creation date, access date,popularity, size, quality, an alphabetical order of titles, or any othersuitable criteria. For example, processing circuitry 206 may display thelistings of the previously stored media assets in sequence from lowestquality to highest quality reward or penalty media asset, or the otherway around.

In some embodiments, users may generate or create media assets (e.g.,videos) for the media assets to be provided to a player as reward orpenalty media assets. In particular, in addition to ranking actionscreated by players, users may also create media assets for provisions tothe player as a reward or penalty. Options selection region 450 in thehome screen may include a generate rewards/penalties option 476.Processing circuitry 206 may navigate the user to a reward/penalizeplayers screen 600 in response to receiving a user selection of option476.

FIG. 6 is illustrative interactive video gaming environment display inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 includesreward/penalize players screen 600 which the user may use to create andtransmit to video asset server 114 reward and penalty media assets.Reward/penalize players screen 600 may include a media asset selectionregion 601 and a media asset browsing region 602. Although each of theregions is shown in a single display 600, these regions may be broken upinto one or more separate displays to accommodate different-sizedscreens on different devices.

Media asset selection region 601 may allow the user to generate a newreward or penalty media asset for the interactive video game. Forexample, in the idol game, the user may generate (or create) a mediaasset segment (video, graphic, image, or audio segment) of the usercommenting on a performance of a player in an action (e.g., singing,acting, speaking, or carrying out any form of behavior). The media assetsegment may be of any unlimited length and size but, in someimplementations, may be limited by the interactive video gamingenvironment to a predetermined length or size (e.g., less than 5 minuteslong or less than 5 megabytes). In some implementations, the length orsize of the media asset segment may be limited based on the type ofmedia used to create the segment (e.g., less than 5 minutes for a videosegment and less than 10 minutes for an audio segment).

For example, processing circuitry 206 may receive a user selection ofcreate option 650. In response to receiving the user selection,processing circuitry 206 may navigate the user to a display that allowsthe user to create media asset segment. In particular, processingcircuitry 206 may present options for the user asking the user what typeof media asset segment the user would like to create. For example,processing circuitry 206 may present the user with options to create avideo, audio, graphic, or any combination thereof. Based on the userselection of the option, processing circuitry 206 may activate theappropriate or necessary input circuitry (e.g., camera 204, user inputinterface 210, microphone, etc.). Processing circuitry 206 may requestthe user to input an indication of whether the created media assetsegment is a reward or a penalty media asset. Processing circuitry 206may record (store) the media asset segment created by the user alongwith the indication of whether the media asset segment is a reward orpenalty media asset upon receipt of a user indication that the creationof the media asset segment is complete.

In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may store the mediaasset segment, along with the indication of whether the media assetsegment is a reward or a penalty media asset, locally in storage 208 ofuser equipment device 200. In some implementations, processing circuitry206 may upload and transmit the created media asset segment, along withthe indication of whether the media asset segment is a reward or apenalty media asset, to video asset server 114 for storage remote fromuser equipment device 200. Video asset server 114 may store anidentifier with the received media asset segment that identifies theuser or user equipment device 200 associated with the stored media assetsegment and information that indicates and categorizes the media assetas a reward or penalty media asset. In some implementations, each usermay be allocated a predetermined amount of storage space on video assetserver 114 which may be used for storing reward or penalty media assets(e.g., media segments created by the user) and any other informationpertaining to the interactive video game.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 206 may retrieve media assetsthat the user previously created or stored. In some implementations,each previously created media asset may be listed using an image orunique identifier associated with the previously created media asset.For example, when the previously generated action is a video segment, arandom frame of the video segment (or a frame selected by the user) maybe shown within media asset selection region 601. In someimplementations, the previously generated action may be a graphic or animage, and in these circumstances, a thumbnail of the previouslygenerated graphic or image may be depicted on the display within mediaasset selection region 601. In some implementations, the previouslygenerated action may be an audio segment, and in these circumstances,audio playback options 630 with a title of the previously generatedaction may be shown within media asset selection region 601.

In some implementations, the user may create the media asset as a seriesof media assets. In particular each media asset may be an episode of theseries of media assets. In such circumstances, processing circuitry 206may display the unique identifier 640 of the media asset series (e.g., aframe of video or cover image that is unique to the series) in mediaasset selection region 601. Processing circuitry 206 may includeinformation with the media asset series that identifies the episode 644of the media asset series corresponding to the identifier 640 and theseries 646 (e.g., a unique number of the series or title of the series).For example, the series may be episodes of the television series “FamilyGuy”. Accordingly, each identifier 640 and 642 may include the coverimage of the series “Family Guy.” In addition, episode identifier 644may identify the particular episode of the series that corresponds tothe media asset identifier 640. When a media asset series is presentedto a player as a media asset reward or penalty, the series information(e.g., episode number and series title or number) may be provided to theplayer.

In some embodiments, the user may select, click on, or highlight an areacorresponding to where a listing of the media asset is displayed inregion 601. In response to receiving the user input (selecting, clickingon, or highlighting), processing circuitry 206 may play back the mediaasset where the corresponding listing of the action is shown. Forexample, when the user selects, clicks on, or highlights audio options630 that corresponds to an audio media asset, processing circuitry 206may begin playback from the start or other position of the audiosegment.

The listings of media assets displayed in media asset selection 601 maycorrespond to any locally or remotely stored media asset created by theuser. In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may receive aselection of a browse/search stored option 620. Browse/search storedoption 620 may be selected by the user when the user does not see alisting for a media asset which was previously created by the user. Forexample, the user may have created the media asset on a different userequipment device 200 on another occasion which may not have beensynchronized with the information about the previously generated mediaassets stored on user equipment device 200 currently being used by theuser. For example, the user may be accessing the interactive video gameusing a portable device and the listings of the media assets may bethose that are known to the portable device. The user may have generateda media asset using a television equipment device which may not havebeen transferred into storage of the portable device. Accordingly, inresponse to receiving the user selection of browse/search stored option620, processing circuitry 206 may display a menu through which the usermay locate media assets stored in other devices or locations (e.g., thetelevision equipment device or a portable storage device such as a USBkey). Processing circuitry 206 may add a listing for the media assetretrieved from the browsed location (e.g., the portable storage device)for the user to select for inclusion in the game.

In some implementations, browse/search stored option 620 may be selectedto retrieve a previously stored player action. For example, the user mayhave previously participated as a player in the interactive video gameand submitted one or more actions for ranking in game mode. The user mayselect any of those one or more previously submitted actions fortransmission to video asset server 114 as a reward or penalty mediaasset in a similar manner as discussed above and below for other rewardor penalty media assets. For example, the player may view a media assetreceived as a reward or penalty for a submitted action in screen 500.The player may be provided with an options region 540 (FIG. 5) allowingthe player to submit the action that resulted in the reward or penaltymedia asset as a reward or penalty media asset.

In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may determine whetherthe media asset being viewed in region 520 corresponds to a reward or apenalty media asset. Based on the determination, processing circuitry206 may customize options region 540. For example, processing circuitry206 may determine that media asset 522 corresponds to a reward mediaasset. In response to the determination, processing circuitry 206 mayask the player whether the player would like to submit the action thatresulted in the reward media asset as a reward media asset. Processingcircuitry 206 may receive a user selection of yes option 542 and, inresponse, may transmit, as a reward media asset, the action thatresulted in the reward media asset 522 to video asset server 114. Inparticular, processing circuitry 206 may submit the action to videoasset server 114 with an indication that the media asset is categorizedas a reward media asset. Alternatively, processing circuitry 206 mayreceive a user selection of submit as penalty media asset option 544and, in response, may transmit, as a penalty media asset, the actionthat resulted in the reward media asset 522 to video asset server 114.In particular, processing circuitry 206 may submit the action to videoasset server 114 with an indication that the media asset is categorizedas a penalty media asset.

Media asset selection region 601 may include a reward option 632 andpenalty option 634 next to or associated with each displayed media assetlisting. Processing circuitry 206 may receive input from the userspecifying whether a media asset corresponding to a displayed mediaasset listing should be categorized as a reward or penalty using eachcorresponding reward option 632 and penalty option 634 of the listing.Media assets corresponding to the listings which are specified by theuser to be reward media assets using, for example, reward option 632,are stored as reward media assets. When the media assets are submittedto video asset server 114, video asset server 114 categorizes thosemedia assets, having reward option 632 selected, as reward media assets.Media assets corresponding to the listings which are specified by theuser to be penalty media assets using, for example, penalty option 634,are stored as penalty media assets. When the media assets are submittedto video asset server 114, video asset server 114 categorizes thosemedia assets, having penalty option 634 selected, as penalty mediaassets. In some implementations, the media assets may be categorized andstored as both penalty and reward media assets and accordingly bothoptions 632 and 634 may be selected for such media assets.

Media asset selection region 601 may include a selection element 610(e.g., a checkbox) next to or associated with each displayed media assetlisting. Processing circuitry 206 may receive input from the userselecting one or more media assets using each corresponding selectionelement 610. The media assets corresponding to the listings which areselected by the user using, for example, selection element 610 may besubmitted to video asset server 114 and provided to a player of theinteractive video gaming environment as a reward or penalty media asset.In particular, processing circuitry 206 may receive a user selection ofsubmit selected option 662 and in response submit the selected mediaassets to video asset server 114. Processing circuitry 206 may includewith the submission to video asset server 114 an indication of whetherthe media assets are reward or penalty media assets based on whetheroption 632 or 634 is selected.

In some embodiments, an editor, host, system administrator or curator(e.g., a human managing operations of the video game) may access or loginto video asset server 114 to monitor some or all of the media assetssubmitted to video asset server 114. In some implementations, some orall of the media assets submitted to video asset server 114 may not beprovided to players as reward or penalty media assets until the editor,host, system administrator or curator approves the submitted mediaasset. In particular, the editor, host, system administrator or curatormay view media assets pending approval to determine whether the contentis too explicit or exceeds a rating that players are willing to tolerateor that is associated with the video game. When the editor, host, systemadministrator or curator determines the media asset exceeds a rating oris too explicit, the editor, host, system administrator or curator mayreject or not approve the submitted media asset and inform the user whosubmitted the rejected media asset. In some implementations, users maybe blocked from submitting media assets if they submit more than apredetermined number of media assets that get rejected, for examplebecause of being too explicit. In some implementations, the editor,host, system administrator or curator may monitor the submitted mediaassets to determine whether they are appropriately categorized as beinga reward or penalty. The editor, host, system administrator or curatormay re-categorize the media assets from reward to penalty or frompenalty to reward based on the content of the media asset or some otherfactor deemed appropriate by the editor, host, system administrator orcurator. Video asset server 114 may associate the stored media asset asbeing a reward media asset when the editor, host, system administratoror curator changes the user assigned category from a penalty media assetto a reward media asset. Alternatively, video asset server 114 mayassociate the stored media asset as being a penalty media asset when theeditor, host, system administrator or curator changes the user assignedcategory from a reward media asset to a penalty media asset. In someembodiments, users may be penalized (e.g., by having their level in thegame play reduced) for submitting media assets that are not correctlycategorized as reward or penalty media assets, as determined by theeditor, host, system administrator or curator or other players or users.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may determine whether theuser is authorized to submit the reward or penalty media asset to theinteractive video game before storing the reward or penalty media asseton video asset server 114 for provision to a player as a reward orpenalty. In some implementations, video asset server 114 may determinethat the user is authorized based on a level of the user within theinteractive video game. For example, a user that is in a higher level ofthe interactive video game may be authorized to submit a greater numberof media assets as rewards or penalties in a given period than a lowerlevel of the same game.

In some implementations, player action server may determine that theuser is authorized based on a predetermined number of player actions theuser has previously ranked. For example, a user that has ranked apredetermined number of player actions may be authorized to submit apredefined number of reward or penalty media assets. There may be aone-to-one correspondence between the number of player actions rankedand the number of media assets the user may submit. Alternatively, theuser may be required to rank 10 player actions before being authorizedto submit a single reward or penalty media asset.

In some embodiments, when the user is not authorized (e.g., because themaximum number of media assets that the player can submit has beenreached), the user may be presented with a set of options to becomeauthorized. A buy more option and a rank others option may be presentedto the unauthorized user. The buy more option and rank others optionsmay operate in a similar manner as buy more option 460 and rank othersoption 462 (FIG. 4). In particular, processing circuitry 206 may receivea user selection of the buy more option and in response may allow theuser to purchase the authorization to submit a given number of mediaassets as rewards or penalties. For example, the user may pay serviceprovider 102 ten dollars for the authorization to submit 20 reward orpenalty media assets. Processing circuitry 206 may receive a playerselection of the rank others option and in response may navigate theuser to a screen (e.g., a screen that includes rank others region 510(FIG. 5)) where the user ranks player actions to receive authorizationto submit a given number of reward or penalty media assets.

In some embodiments, a user may browse reward and penalty media assetsstored on video asset server 114. In particular, without submitting anaction or otherwise participating in the interactive video game, theuser may navigate to media asset browsing region 602 to search andbrowse reward and penalty media assets submitted by users and/orplayers. Media asset browsing region 602 may display separately mediaasset listings for media assets categorized as rewards and media assetscategorized as penalties. For example, a reward media asset listing 692may be displayed on a top portion with an indication that media assetlisting 692 is categorized as a reward. Similarly, a penalty media assetlisting 680 may be displayed on a bottom portion with an indication thatmedia asset listing 680 is categorized as a penalty. Each displayedmedia asset listing may include an identifier (e.g., titles of therespective media assets, an image associated with the media asset or anyother unique identifier associated with the media asset that identifiesthe media asset to the player). In some implementations, the displayedidentifier may be a picture or image of (or associated with) the user orplayer that created or submitted the reward or penalty media asset.

In some implementations, reward and penalty media assets may be mixedtogether and displayed as one region in region 602. In suchcircumstances, processing circuitry 206 may display one or more options674 and 689 to sort, organize and/or categorize the displayed mediaassets. For example, processing circuitry 206 may display an option (notshown) for the user to instruct processing circuitry 206 to only displayreward media assets or only display penalty media assets in region 602.Processing circuitry 206 may display option 689 for the user to instructprocessing circuitry 206 to only display reward and/or penalty mediaassets that include content of a certain type (e.g., drama, action,comedy, etc.) and/or that are of a certain media type (e.g., video mediaassets, audio media assets, graphics, website, etc.) and/or that are ofa certain quality (e.g., above a certain image resolution or created bya particular source (e.g., a celebrity or user)). Processing circuitry206 may display option 674 for the user to instruct processing circuitry206 to only display reward and/or penalty media assets that are of acertain length.

Processing circuitry 206 may receive a user selection of any one of thedisplayed media assets 692 and 680 and may retrieve the correspondingreward or penalty media asset from video asset server 114. Processingcircuitry 206 may play back and display the retrieved media asset inregion 602. Alternatively, processing circuitry 206 may play back anddisplay the retrieved media asset in a separate navigation screen. Insome implementations, processing circuitry 206 may navigate the user toscreen 500 and play back and display the retrieved reward or penaltymedia asset in region 520 (FIG. 5).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 206 may organize the penaltyand/or reward media assets in region 602 based on any suitable criteria.For example, processing circuitry 206 may sort the displayed mediaassets in an order based on creation date, access date, popularity,size, quality, popularity among users of the interactive video game, analphabetical order of titles, or any other suitable criteria. Forexample, processing circuitry 206 may display the listings of thepreviously stored reward or penalty media assets in sequence from lowestquality to highest quality reward or penalty media asset, or the otherway around.

In some embodiments, video asset server 114 may restrict the type ofreward or penalty media assets that the user can browse in region 602based on the level within the interactive video game that the user isin. In particular, video asset server 114 may determine whether the useris authorized to browse reward or penalty media assets (that have notbeen earned or received as part of game play of the user) of theinteractive video game before allowing the user to access media assetlistings in region 602. In some implementations, video asset server 114may determine that the user is authorized based on a level of the userwithin the interactive video game. Video asset server 114 may display aprompt 670 indicating the level of authorization the user has in region602. For example, a user that is in a higher level (e.g., has a higherlevel of authorization) of the interactive video game may be authorizedto view a certain type (e.g., high quality or low quality) or certainquantity of reward or penalty media assets than a lower level of thesame game. Video asset server 114 may determine the authorization levelof the user in any manner previously described above (e.g., inconnection with submission of an action for ranking or submission of amedia asset as a reward or penalty).

In some implementations, video asset server 114 may allow a user tobrowse all reward and penalty media assets stored in video asset server114 using region 602 but may limit access to those media assets based onthe level of authorization of the user. For example, region 602 maydisplay media asset listings for all stored media assets on video assetserver 114. However, upon receiving a user selection of one of the mediaassets for access, viewing or playback, video asset server 114 maydetermine whether the user has the appropriate level of authorization toaccess, view or play back the corresponding media asset. Each mediaasset stored on video asset server 114 may be associated with aparticular level of authorization. Video asset server 114 may determinethe level of authorization of the user requesting access to the mediaasset and compare that authorization level with the authorization levelassociated with the requested media asset. When the authorization levelof the user meets or exceeds the authorization level associated with therequested media asset, video asset server 114 may transmit or makeavailable the requested reward or penalty media asset to the user foraccess, viewing or playback. As discussed above, each media asset may beassociated with copyright restrictions and accordingly, processingcircuitry 206 may only allow the user to view the media asset that isrequested without being able to store, share or transmit the requestedmedia asset with any other equipment or user.

In some embodiments, the action submitted by the player may be based onexercise performed by the player. For example, the player may be usingexercise equipment and processing circuitry 206 and may determine howpoor or well the player is exercising. Processing circuitry 206 mayapply the determination of how poor or well the player is exercising asthe action. Processing circuitry 206 may display media assets to theplayer while the player uses the exercise equipment based on how poor orwell the player is exercising. In particular, processing circuitry 206may monitor how long and in what intensity the player is exercising.Processing circuitry 206 may select media assets for display orprovision to the player based on the length of time and intensity of theexercise.

FIG. 7 is illustrative exercise equipment running an interactive videogaming environment in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 7 includes an exercise display screen 700 of theinteractive video gaming environment which provides the exerciseapplication. In some implementations, the exercise application may be asoftware application installed on a portable device (e.g., an iPhone oriPad) that the player holds or wears while exercising. In suchcircumstances, the portable device may include electronic hardware orequipment attached to, coupled to, or worn by the player to monitorstatus of the exercise (e.g., heartbeat, distance run, or any othersuitable biological characteristic or characteristic associated with theexercise). In some implementations, the exercise application may be alocal software application installed on a dedicated exercise machine(e.g., a treadmill, bicycle or elliptical machine). The dedicatedmachine may be equipped to monitor status of exercise done by the playeras well as any biological information (e.g., heartbeat). Display screen700 may be the home screen of the interactive video gaming environmentthat is presented to the player upon starting up the exerciseapplication.

Display screen 700 may include an exercise status region 710. Exercisestatus region 710 may include information about the current exercisebeing done by the player. For example, exercise status region 710 mayinclude an elapsed time the player has been exercising and/or a totalamount of calories burned. Exercise status region 710 may include anyother information pertinent to the particular sport or exercise (e.g.,total distance run, heart rate, etc.). Exercise status region 710 maydisplay any information monitored by processing circuitry 206 using oneor more biological devices attached to, worn by, or coupled to theplayer.

In some embodiments, the player may select a type of media that theplayer desires to access while exercising. For example, processingcircuitry 206 may receive a player selection of media category option720. Processing circuitry 206 may, in response to receiving the playerselection, display a menu with categories of media assets for the playerto choose. For example, the categories may include sports, comedy,action, drama, sitcoms, etc. The player may select any number ofcategories. In particular, by selecting multiple categories, the playermay be presented with a wider range of media asset types. Each categorydisplayed within the menu may include one or more subcategories for theplayer to select to further refine the media asset selection. Forexample, when the player selects sports category, one or more types ofsports may be presented as options for the player to select (e.g.,football, soccer, basketball).

As the player is exercising, processing circuitry 206 may present one ormore media assets corresponding to a selected category. The media assetsmay be presented one at a time or in a mosaic manner where multiplemedia assets are displayed simultaneously. For example, when footballcategory is selected, processing circuitry 206 may display a first mediaasset 740 corresponding to a first game and a second media asset 742corresponding to a second game. Each media asset 740 and 742 may includea live video feed from the respective game. In some implementations,each media asset may include clips or segments of highlights of therespective game.

In some embodiments, the media assets selected for presentation to theplayer while the player is exercising may be selected based on variouscriteria. For example, the criteria may include one or more categoriesselected by the player, a level within the interactive video game theplayer is currently in, length of time the player is using the exerciseequipment, upgrade package or package type purchased by the player, anycombination thereof, or any other suitable criteria. Each media assetpresented in display 700 may include an indication of the level withinthe interactive video game associated with the media asset.

In some embodiments, when the player starts accessing the exerciseapplication, processing circuitry 206 may retrieve an exercise profileassociated with the player. The exercise profile may store variousinformation about the player. For example, the exercise profile maystore information (statistics) about prior exercise performed by theplayer, previously selected media asset categories, a level within theinteractive video game the player is in, and goals the player would liketo achieve. Processing circuitry 206 may customize the media assetspresented to the player during the current exercise session based on theretrieved exercise profile. In some implementations, the exerciseprofile may be stored on a remote server and retrieved from the remoteserver when the player logs into the exercise application.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 206 may retrieve the mediaassets presented to the player from video asset server 114. Processingcircuitry 206 may transmit to video asset server 114 informationidentifying the current player (or user) of the exercise application andthe exercise profile associated with the player. Video asset server 114may select one or more media assets stored on video asset server 114 forpresentation to the player. For example, video asset server 114 mayselect the one or more media assets having a particular measure ofquality based on the level in which the player is within the interactivevideo game. In particular, video asset server 114 may select higherquality media assets when the player is in higher levels and lowerquality media assets when the player is in lower levels. The mediaassets presented to the player may be selected (by processing circuitry206 or video asset server 114) based on an authorization level of theplayer which may be determined in a similar manner as discussed above.

In some implementations, before transmitting the selected media assetsto the player for presentation during the exercise, video asset server114 may provide the selected media assets to media processing server118. Media processing server 118 may modify or process the selectedmedia assets in a similar manner as previously discussed (e.g.,associate one or more advertisements with the selected media assets orotherwise process the media assets). The media assets processed by mediaprocessing server 118 may then be transmitted to the player during theexercise or use of the exercise application.

In some embodiments, the player may advance to higher levels as theplayer improves exercising. Processing circuitry 206 may determinewhether the player is improving exercising based on how close the playeris in reaching the exercise goals set by the player in the exerciseprofile. In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may determinethe player is improving by monitoring a length of time the player isexercising in a given session of the exercise application.

In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may displayinformation prompt 750 that describes the media assets that correspondto a particular level within the interactive video game. For example,when the player is within level 4 of the interactive video game, themedia assets that may be presented to the player may include clips orsegments of second quarters of football games, which are 15 secondslong, and are 1 week old. Media assets that correspond to higher levels(e.g., level 5) may include clips or segments of third quarters offootball games, which are 30 seconds long, and are 3 days old. Theplayer may interact with prompt 750 to view a description of mediaassets that correspond to higher and/or lower levels within theinteractive video game. Allowing the player to view descriptions ofhigher level media assets may incentivize the player to improve theirperformance in the exercise application to be authorized to access andbe presented with media assets corresponding to the higher level.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 206 may provide a prompt 760that indicates to the player the amount of time or measure of exercisethe player has to achieve to reach the next level of the interactivevideo game. For example, processing circuitry 206 may monitor one ormore exercise attributes of the player (e.g., a length of time theplayer is using the exercise application, a heart rate, a distance theplayer has run, etc.). Processing circuitry 206 may compare themonitored one or more attributes (e.g., the length of time) to one ormore predetermined thresholds corresponding to the attributes. In someimplementations, the attributes that are monitored and the predeterminedthreshold may be selected based on the exercise profile associated withthe player. The predetermined threshold may be a time period, a targetheart rate, an exercise intensity level, or any combination thereof orany other criteria or attribute by which exercise goals are measured.

In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 may subtract theelapsed time the player has used the exercise application from thepredetermined threshold to compute the time remaining until the playerreaches the next level in the exercise application. Processing circuitry206 may present media assets corresponding to a current level until theplayer reaches the next level in the interactive video game. Once theplayer reaches the next level, processing circuitry 206 may adjust thepredetermined threshold up (e.g., increase the amount of exercise timerequired) and present media asset corresponding to the next level theplayer has achieved. Processing circuitry 206 may continuously anditeratively increase the level within the interactive video game theplayer is in each time the player reaches the next predeterminedthreshold.

An option prompt 730 may be presented for the player to instructprocessing circuitry 206 to select one of the displayed media assets forpresentation in a full screen format or in a larger view or portion ofthe display screen than other media assets. For example, the player mayselect media asset 740 and, as a result, processing circuitry 206 maydisplay the corresponding media asset in full screen format.Alternatively, processing circuitry 206 may display the selected mediaasset on a larger portion of the display screen than the non-selectedmedia asset 742. In some implementations, processing circuitry 206 maypresent the selected media asset in a full screen format and the one ormore non-selected media assets in a picture-in-picture format within thefull screen display of the selected media asset.

In some embodiments, after the player completes the current session ofexercise, the exercise profile associated with the player may be updatedand stored (locally or remotely). Advertisements presented to the playerduring the exercise session may be selected and displayed in any mannerdiscussed above. In particular, when advertisements are associated witha media asset presented to the player during the exercise session, theadvertisements may be displayed in a region of the display separate fromthe media assets, as overlays on top of the selected media assets,before the media assets are presented or after the media assets arepresented.

In some embodiments, the interactive video gaming environment may be athree-dimensional (3D) interactive video gaming environment. Forexample, the interactive video gaming environment may be a stereoscopicinteractive video gaming environment. Stereoscopic interactive videogaming environment may require the user to wear a stereoscopic opticaldevice (e.g., 3D glasses) to view reward or penalty media assets in 3D.Any portion of the interactive video gaming environment discussed abovemay be viewed or accessed in 3D. For example, player actions may becreated, accessed or generated in 3D using 3D-enabled camera equipmenton user equipment device 200 and/or a 3D-enabled display. Reward orpenalty media assets may be created, accessed and/or generated in 3Dusing 3D-enabled camera equipment on user equipment device 200 and/or a3D enabled display. Any one of the navigation screens discussed abovemay be accessed and/or generated in 3D using user equipment device 200and/or a 3D-enabled display. Although the discussion above and below isprovided in the context of a stereoscopic environment requiring 3Doptical devices, these teachings are equally applicable to environmentand systems that generate 3D environments without requiring 3D opticaldevices (e.g., without requiring 3D glasses to be worn).

FIG. 8 is an illustrative 3D interactive video gaming environment 800 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 3D interactivevideo gaming environment 800 may include 3D display device 810. A useror player 842 may be wearing or equipped with a 3D optical device 840.User or player 842 may be positioned at a distance 816 away from displaydevice 810. When accessing a 3D portion of the interactive video game, a3D navigation screen 820 of the interactive video game may be perceivedby user 842 to appear at a distance 812 from display device 810 whenseen through optical device 840. An action or media asset 830 may beperceived to appear by user 842 at a distance 814 from display device810 when seen through optical device 840. More specifically, action ormedia asset 830 may appear to user 842 as being closer to user 842 than3D navigation screen 820 and accordingly may appear more prominently touser 842. In particular, distance 816 may be further away from displaydevice 810 than distance 830 is from display device 810.

In some implementations, the determination of whether to position amedia asset or action closer to user 842 in 3D space than navigationscreen 820 may be performed based on the context of the interactivevideo game. For example, when the user is playing back a media asset,the media asset may be positioned closer to the user in 3D space thanthe background of the interactive video game screen. Alternatively, whenthe user is accessing features of the interactive video game screen(e.g., browsing for player actions to submit or browsing for reward orpenalty media assets previously submitted), the interactive video gamescreen portion that the user is using may be positioned closer to theuser in 3D space than other portions of the interactive video gamescreen that are not being used.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative flow diagram 900 of an interactive videogaming environment in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At step 910, a plurality of videos is received from aplurality of users. A first set of the plurality of videos iscategorized as reward videos and a second set of the plurality of videosis categorized as penalty videos. For example, video asset server 114may receive and store from a plurality of users reward or penalty mediaassets that the users create (FIG. 1). The users may generate the rewardor penalty media assets using media asset selection region 601 (FIG. 6).

At step 920, an action is received from a player relating to game playin the interactive video gaming environment. For example, player actionserver 116 may receive and store from a player an action (e.g., a video)that the player creates (FIG. 1). The player may generate the actionusing action selection region 410 (FIG. 4).

At step 930, a rank is associated with the action. For example, playeraction server 116 may make the received action available to a pluralityof users of the interactive video gaming environment and receive a rankfor the action from each of the users. Users may rank the action usingrank others region 510 (FIG. 5). Player action server 116 may compute anoverall rank for the action based on the received ranks (e.g., bycomputing an average of the ranks assigned by the users) and mayassociate the rank with the action stored in player action server 116.

At step 940, a determination is made as to whether the rank correspondsto a reward. When the rank is determined to correspond to a reward, theprocess proceeds to step 941, otherwise the process proceeds to step942. For example, player action server 116 may provide the rank to videoasset server 114 which may determine by the value of the rank whetherthe rank corresponds to a reward or a penalty (e.g., a rank valuedgreater than 6 may be determined to correspond to a reward).

At step 941, the first set of the plurality of videos is selected. Forexample, video asset server 114 may select the set of media assetscategorized as reward media assets for provision to the player bylooking up in a database the media assets that are categorized as rewardmedia assets.

At step 942, the second set of the plurality of videos is selected. Forexample, video asset server 114 may select the set of media assetscategorized as penalty media assets for provision to the player bylooking up in a database the media assets that are categorized aspenalty media assets.

At step 950, a determination is made as to whether the interactive videogaming environment has multiple levels. When the interactive videogaming environment is determined to have multiple levels, the processproceeds to step 960, otherwise the process proceeds to step 970. Forexample, video asset server 114 or player action server 116 maydetermine the type of interactive video gaming environment being playedand whether there are multiple levels associated with the interactivevideo gaming environment.

At step 960, a determination of which one of the plurality of levels ofthe interactive video gaming environment corresponds to the action (orthe player). For example, video asset server 114 or player action server116 may keep a user or player profile for the user or player anddetermine based on the profile what level the given user or player is inwithin the gaming environment. Information identifying the level may beprovided in the action received by player action server 116.

At step 961, a measure of quality associated with each video in theselected set is identified. For example, video asset server 114 mayidentify whether each media asset in the selected set corresponds to ahigh quality media asset or a low quality media asset (e.g., whether themedia assets have high or low image resolution). Although the above andbelow discussion pertains to a media assets being of high or lowquality, the media assets in video asset server 114 may be any range ofqualities (e.g., very low quality, low quality, average quality, mediumquality, medium-high quality, high quality, very high quality, etc.).

At step 962, a video is selected from the selected set having themeasure of quality associated with the level corresponding to theaction. For example, video asset server 114 may select a high qualityreward or penalty media asset when the level the player is incorresponds to a high level (e.g., level 6 out of 10 or higher) and mayselect a low quality reward or penalty media asset when the level theplayer is in corresponds to a low level (e.g., level 5 out of 10 orlower).

At step 970, one of the plurality of videos is selected from theselected set. For example, video asset server 114 may retrieve the mediaasset from the selected set in any random or pseudorandom manner orbased on any other factor discussed above.

At step 980, a determination is made as to whether the rank (or levelcorresponding to the action) corresponds to an advertisement. When therank (or level corresponding to the action) is determined to correspondto an advertisement, the process proceeds to step 981, otherwise theprocess proceeds to step 982. For example, player action server 116 maydetermine whether the rank associated with the action is lower than athreshold in which case the rank may be determined to correspond to anadvertisement. Alternatively, player action server 116 may determinewhether the rank associated with the action is higher than a thresholdin which case the rank may be determined to not correspond to anadvertisement.

At step 981, an advertisement is associated with the selected video fordisplay with the video. For example, media processing server 118 mayselect an advertisement from advertisement server 122 and associated theselected advertisement with the selected media asset. Media processingserver 118 may embed the selected advertisement within the media assetso that the advertisement appears as an overlay or before, after orduring presentation of the media asset to the player. Media processingserver 118 may alternatively link the advertisement with the media assetsuch that processing circuitry 206 displays the advertisement separatelyfrom the media asset on a display.

At step 982, the selected video is transmitted or made available to theplayer. For example, the player may navigate to region 520 to play backor access the reward or penalty media asset received from player actionserver 116 based on the action the player submitted to player actionserver 116.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative flow diagram 1000 of an interactive videogaming environment in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At step 1010, a request from a user is received to transmitfrom the user to a remote server a video as a reward or penalty. Forexample, the user may navigate to media asset selection region 601 toselect one or more reward or penalty media assets for transmission tovideo asset server 114 (FIG. 6).

At step 1020, a determination is made as to whether the user ranked apredetermined number of actions. When the user is determined to haveranked a predetermined number of actions, the process proceeds to step1030, otherwise the process proceeds to step 1021. For example, videoasset server 114 may determine the level of authorization associatedwith the user. In particular, video asset server 114 may determinewhether the user is authorized to transmit or upload a reward or penaltymedia asset. In some implementations, video asset server 114 maydetermine the user is authorized based on the number of player actionsthe user has previously ranked.

At step 1021, an action received from one of a plurality of playersrelating to game play in the interactive video gaming environment isretrieved. For example, video asset server 114 may retrieve from playeraction server 116 an action submitted by a player during game play. Theaction may have been submitted by the player to the player action server116 using player action selection region 410.

At step 1022, a rank for the retrieved action is received from the user.For example, the action may be presented to the user in region 510. Theuser may assign a rank to the action presented in region 510 and theassigned rank is received and stored by player action server 116.

At step 1030, a determination as to whether a video being transmittedfrom the user is a video segment that is part of a sequence of videosegments that when played back represent a video media asset. When thevideo is determined to be part of a sequence, the process proceeds tostep 1032, otherwise the process proceeds to step 1031. For example,media assets 640 and 642 may be episodes of a series created by the user(FIG. 6). Each of the episodes may be of equal length and may correspondto a section of the media asset series. Media assets 640 and 642 may bea certain portion (e.g., 3 minutes) of the overall length (e.g., 6minutes) of a particular media asset.

At step 1031, the video received from the user is stored as the rewardor penalty. For example, the user may select option 632 to categorizethe media asset selected for submission to video asset server 114 as areward and/or option 634 to categorize the media asset selected forsubmission to video asset server 114 as a penalty. Video asset server114 may store the received media asset as a reward or penalty based onthe option selected by the user. Video asset server 114 may categorizethe received media asset as a reward or penalty based on the optionselected by the user by storing an indicator with the received mediaasset.

At step 1032, a next one of a received video segment is stored. Forexample, the user may submit multiple episodes or segments of a mediaasset either one at a time or all at the same time.

At step 1040, a determination is made as to whether all video segmentsof the sequence have been received from the user. When all the videosegments are determined to have been received, the process proceeds tostep 1050, otherwise the process proceeds to step 1032.

At step 1050, each of the stored video segments is associated with avideo media asset that is categorized as a reward or penalty. Forexample, video asset server 114 may determine whether the media segmentreceived from the user is identified as a reward or penalty and,accordingly, store the received segment as a reward or penalty mediaasset.

FIG. 11 is an illustrative flow diagram 1100 of an interactive videogaming environment in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At step 1110, an action relating to game play is receivedfrom a player in an interactive gaming environment. For example, playeraction server 116 may receive and store from a player an action (e.g., avideo) that the player creates (FIG. 1). The player may generate theaction using action selection region 410 (FIG. 4).

At step 1120, a rank is associated with the action. For example, playeraction server 116 may make the received action available to a pluralityof users of the interactive video gaming environment and receive a rankfor the action from each of the users. Users may rank the action usingrank others region 510 (FIG. 5). Player action server 116 may compute anoverall rank for the action based on the received ranks (e.g., bycomputing an average of the ranks assigned by the users) and mayassociate the rank with the action stored in player action server 116.

At step 1130, a determination is made as to whether the rank correspondsto a reward. When the rank is determined to correspond to a reward, theprocess proceeds to step 1140, otherwise the process proceeds to step1150. For example, player action server 116 may provide the rank tovideo asset server 114 which may determine by the value of the rankwhether the rank corresponds to a reward or a penalty (e.g., a rankvalued greater than 6 may be determined to correspond to a reward).

At step 1140, a media asset (e.g., a video media asset) that iscategorized as a reward is selected.

At step 1150, a media asset (e.g., a video media asset) categorized as apenalty is selected.

At step 1160, a determination is made as to whether the selected mediaasset is associated with a sequence of video segments. When the selectedmedia asset is determined to be associated with a sequence of videosegments, the process proceeds to step 1170, otherwise the processproceeds to step 1190.

At step 1170, a current playback position within the selected mediaasset is determined. For example, video asset server 114 may determinewhich media asset segment of a series of a media asset was last providedto the player. In some implementations, video asset server 114 mayidentify the media asset last provided to the player and determine thetime point at which the user ended viewing the media asset as thecurrent playback position. For example, the media asset may be an hourlong program and the last segment provided to the user corresponded tothe first half of the program. Accordingly, video asset server 114 maydetermine that the viewing ended at the 30 minute point in the program.

At step 1180, one of the video segments associated with the media assetthat is next in sequence relative to the current playback position isselected. For example, video asset server 114 may retrieve the last 30minute segment of an hour long media asset after determining the playerhas last been provided with a media asset of the first half of the hourlong program.

At step 1190, the selected media asset is transmitted to the player. Forexample, the player may navigate to region 520 to play back or accessthe reward or penalty media asset received from player action server 116based on the action the player submitted to player action server 116.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative flow diagram 1200 of an interactive videogaming environment in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At step 1210, a plurality of sets of videos is stored, whereeach set is associated with a unique measure of quality. For example,the measure of quality may be determined based on a level within theinteractive video game that the user is in. The videos may be stored andreceived from video asset server 114 (FIG. 1).

At step 1220, a length of time a user is exercising using equipment withan exercise application is monitored. For example, processing circuitry206 may monitor how long the user is using the exercise application. Insome implementations, processing circuitry 206 may monitor a length ormagnitude of some other attribute (e.g., heart rate or distance) insteadof time.

At step 1230, one of the plurality of sets of videos associated with ameasure of quality lower than the measure of quality associated witheach one of the other sets is selected. In some implementations, a setof videos associated with a measure of quality last provided to the userin the previous exercise session may be selected.

At step 1240, a determination is made as to whether a length of timeexceeds a predetermined minimum exercise threshold. When the length oftime is determined to exceed the minimum exercise threshold, the processproceeds to step 1250, otherwise the process proceeds to step 1270. Forexample, processing circuitry 206 may determine whether the monitoredattribute (e.g., heart rate, time, or distance) exceeds a correspondingminimum predetermined threshold.

At step 1250, the predetermined minimum exercise threshold is adjusted.For example, processing circuitry 206 may increase (or decrease) theminimum exercise threshold based on the type of attribute beingmonitored.

At step 1260, another of the plurality of sets associated with a measureof quality greater than the measure of quality associated with thepreviously selected set is selected. For example, processing circuitry206 or video asset server 114 may select clips or segments that arelonger, better quality, newer or correspond to different segments of agame or media asset as a media asset having a greater measure ofquality.

At step 1270, a video from the selected one of the sets of videos isretrieved for display to the user. For example, media asset 740corresponding to a measure of quality associated with level 4 of theinteractive video game may be presented to the user (FIG. 7).

It should be understood that the above steps of the flow diagrams ofFIGS. 9-12 may be executed or performed in any order or sequence notlimited to the order and sequence shown and described in the figure.Also, some of the above steps of the flow diagrams of FIGS. 9-12 may beexecuted or performed substantially simultaneously where appropriate orin parallel to reduce latency and processing times. Some of the abovesteps of flow diagrams of FIGS. 9-12 may be skipped.

The above described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims which follow.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method comprising: generating a display of aninteractive 3D environment on an electronic device, wherein theinteractive 3D environment allows a plurality of players to join theinteractive 3D environment from a plurality of separate devices;receiving from a device of a player of the plurality of players a listof completed actions performed by the player using a representation ofthat player in the interactive 3D environment; evaluating the receivedlist of the completed actions; and based on the evaluation, authorizingthe electronic device of the player to access a particular media assetin the 3D environment.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein evaluatingthe completed action further comprises: determining whether thecompleted action is a response to a question provided to the player; andin response to determining that the completed action is the response tothe question provided to the player, determining whether the response isa correct response.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein in response todetermining that the response to the question is the correct response,rewarding the player by authorizing the electronic device of the playerto access the particular media asset in the 3D environment.
 24. Themethod of claim 22, wherein in response to determining that the responseto the question is the correct response, assigning a high rank above apredetermined rank level to the completed action.
 25. The method ofclaim 22, wherein in response to determining that the response to thequestion is an incorrect response, assigning a lower rank to thecompleted action.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein evaluating thecompleted action further comprises: comparing the list of completedactions with player actions received from the plurality of players; anddetermining whether the completed list of actions are associated withthe majority or a minority of the player actions received from theplurality of players.
 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: inresponse to determining that the completed list of actions areassociated with the majority of the player actions received from theplurality of players, associating the completed list of actions with ahigh rank that is above a predetermined rank level; and in response todetermining that the completed list of actions are associated with theminority of the player actions received from the plurality of players,associating the completed list of actions with a rank that is lower thanthe high rank provided for the completed list of actions beingassociated with the majority of the player actions.
 28. The method ofclaim 21, further comprising: making the list of completed actions bythe player available to the plurality of players that joined theinteractive 3D environment; and receiving a rank for the list ofcompleted actions from the plurality of players.
 29. The method of claim28, further comprising, determining based on the rank received for thelist of completed actions from the plurality of players whether toreward the player.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the reward may beprovided if the rank exceeds a predetermined threshold, and a penaltymay be given if the rank is below the predetermined threshold.
 31. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the completed action consists of at leastone of receiving a video from the player as part of a game play,receiving from the player a response to an inquiry or question providedduring the game play, receiving an indication that the player completeda segment or stage of a game in the interactive 3D environment, andreceiving an indication that the player reached or failed to reach asegment of one of a plurality of levels of the game in the interactive3D environment.
 32. The method of claim 21, further comprisingdisplaying the list of the completed actions in sequence from earliestcreated action to latest created action.
 33. The method of claim 21,wherein, based on the evaluation, authorizing the electronic device ofthe player to access a particular media asset in the 3D environmentfurther comprising: determining whether the evaluation results in areward or a penalty; and in response to determining that the evaluationresults in a reward, retrieving a media asset from a video asset serverthat is categorized as a reward, and in response to determining that theevaluation results in a penalty, retrieving a media asset from a videoasset server that is categorized as a penalty, wherein the media assetcategorized for the reward is different from the media asset categorizedfor the penalty.
 34. A system comprising: control circuitry configuredto: generate a display of an interactive 3D environment on an electronicdevice, wherein the interactive 3D environment allows a plurality ofplayers to join the interactive 3D environment from a plurality ofseparate devices; receive from a device of a player of the plurality ofplayers a list of completed actions performed by the player using arepresentation of that player in the interactive 3D environment;evaluate the received list of the completed actions; and based on theevaluation, authorize the electronic device of the player to access aparticular media asset in the 3D environment.
 35. The system of claim34, wherein evaluating the completed action further comprises, thecontrol circuitry configured to: determine whether the completed actionis a response to a question provided to the player; and in response todetermining that the completed action is the response to the questionprovided to the player, determine whether the response is a correctresponse.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein in response to determiningthat the response to the question is the correct response, the controlcircuitry configured to assign a high rank above a predetermined ranklevel to the completed action.
 37. The system of claim 34, whereinevaluating the completed action further comprises, the control circuitryconfigured to: compare the list of completed actions with player actionsreceived from the plurality of players; and determine whether thecompleted list of actions are associated with the majority or a minorityof the player actions received from the plurality of players.
 38. Thesystem of claim 37, further comprising, the control circuitry configuredto: in response to determining that the completed list of actions areassociated with the majority of the player actions received from theplurality of players, associate the completed list of actions with ahigh rank that is above a predetermined rank level; and in response todetermining that the completed list of actions are associated with theminority of the player actions received from the plurality of players,associate the completed list of actions with a rank that is lower thanthe high rank provided for the completed list of actions beingassociated with the majority of the player actions.
 39. The system ofclaim 34, wherein the completed action consists of at least one ofreceiving a video from the player as part of a game play, receiving fromthe player a response to an inquiry or question provided during the gameplay, receiving an indication that the player completed a segment orstage of a game in the interactive 3D environment, and receiving anindication that the player reached or failed to reach a segment of oneof a plurality of levels of the game in the interactive 3D environment.40. The system of claim 34, wherein, based on the evaluation,authorizing the electronic device of the player to access a particularmedia asset in the 3D environment further comprising, the controlcircuitry configured to: determine whether the evaluation results in areward or a penalty; and in response to determining that the evaluationresults in a reward, retrieve a media asset from a video asset serverthat is categorized as a reward, and in response to determining that theevaluation results in a penalty, retrieve a media asset from a videoasset server that is categorized as a penalty, wherein the media assetcategorized for the reward is different from the media asset categorizedfor the penalty.